That meant that much of the game was decided by not ready for prime time players. That's not to say that either team resembled the Clippers of old, with each team boasting an All-Star -- Los Angeles Elton Brand, Seattle Gary Payton -- and talented role players. The Sonics' role players were simply better, winning the battle of depleted benches 41-14 and getting 42 points from the backcourt deal of Payton and Brent Barry to pull away from the Clippers in the fourth quarter.

Seattle entered the final of play up five points in a game that looked like it would be decided in the final minutes. The bench immediately went to work, with Desmond Mason -- who continued a recent hot streak with 15 points and 8 rebounds -- knocking down a jumper, followed by three straight scores by Peja Drobnjak. Drobnjak, who was a part of the Sonics' walking wounded a night ago when he wrenched a knee in a collision with two Washington defenders and missed the rest of the game, looked healthy enough tonight, netting a career-high 18 points on 8 of 12 shooting against a Clipper team that obviously had not updated his scouting report to reflect his recent hot stretch of play.

Down 13, the Clippers needed to win over the partisan crowd with a run of their own to have a chance to win. Instead, the Sonics tightened the clamps defensively. Using an unconventional lineup of Randy Livingston -- completing his 10-day contract -- Barry, Mason, Drobnjak, and Jerome James, the Sonics held Los Angeles scoreless over a three-minute span which brought the game to the verge of the four-minute mark. James, who had six blocks, was a force on the interior. The Sonics only scored four points themselves, but had the clock as their ally. Even after Jeff McInnis' three pointer broke the offensive drought for the Clippers, they needed to make up 11 points as the Sonics slowed the game's pace.

McInnis made three more triples and teammate Eric Piatkowski one -- Los Angeles was 12 of 20 as a team from beyond the arc, while the Sonics, weighed down by an uncharectaristically poor 1 of 10 effort from last season's NBA leader in the category, Barry -- but their team never got any closer than 91-87 with 37 seconds left. Payton finished the Clippers with a pair of free throws shortly thereafter, concluding a trend that saw Seattle make 24 of 28 tries at the charity stripe overall, and 9 of 10 down the stretch to hold the lead.

Despite playing without their entire projected starting frontcourt, the Sonics were able to contain Brand, making him a passer. Brand had six assists, but made only 2 of 9 tries offensively as he was held 10 points under his 18.4 average. Along with frontcourtmate Michael Olowokandi, Brand was a force on the boards, as the duo teamed for 29 rebounds, but the Sonics got a team effort which allowed them to tie the Clippers with 44 rebounds apiece.

Most of Brand's passes went to McInnis and Piatkowski, who scored 50 points to outdo Barry and Payton. Together, they made 11 three-pointers, but the Sonics' duo made up for it by setting up their teammates. The Sonics' guards combined for 14 assists and one turnover, while their opposing numbers had six assists and four turnovers.

In the first quarter, the Clippers looked like they might fulfill the experts' expectations of a blowout (one website which will go unnamed actually predicted a 23-point loss), leading by as many as nine points. The Sonics made up the ground -- and provided a glimpse of the game's finish -- with a tough defensive stand at the close of the second quarter. Before Piatkowski beat the buzzer with a tip-in, Los Angeles had not scored in the quarter's final five minutes. Using the same lineup for half of the run (with Payton replacing Livingston for the other half), the Sonics outscored the Clippers 12-0 to take a lead of four to the half.

The Sonics would not relinquish the lead in the third quarter, allowing Los Angeles to tie at one point but otherwise remaining ahead and keeping the Clippers from ever gaining momentum.

Box Score