With the game well in hand, Seattle head coach Nate McMillan had the opportunity to use the fourth quarter as a proving ground for erstwhile starting power forward Vin Baker, who had missed the Sonics' previous 17 games with dislocated toes. As injuries mounted -- the Sonics dressed only nine players for their victory over the Clippers on Saturday -- Baker's return was hurried, as he had practiced only one time before checking in at the three minute market of the first quarter to a largely positive response.

The crowd quickly turned, however, as Baker demonstrated that rust had indeed formed during his time on the sidelines. Baker split a pair of free throws before losing a ball out of bounds in low, with scattered boos heard from the Seattle faithful. Baker played 22 minutes, including the entire fourth quarter, scoring three points on one of four shooting and committing two turnovers. He was solid on the boards, leading the Sonics with seven as they managed to outrebound Golden State -- the NBA's best rebounding team -- by a 38-29 count, 'holding' Warrior stalwart Danny Fortson to 10 boards in 33 minutes.

The Sonics dominated the Warriors with a new-look starting lineup, with Yugoslavian rookie Peja Drobnjak starting for the first time in his NBA career. Drobnjak's most impressive contribution was four assists, either catalyst for or symptomatic of excellent ball movement in general by the Seattle starters, leading to 31 assists. 21 of those went to the brilliant backcourt of Gary Payton and Brent Barry, who combined for just three turnovers.

In the first quarter, it was a red-hot Payton who sparked the offense against the invaders from his hometown. Making seven of 10 tries from the field, Payton scored 17 points as the Sonics could not miss offensively, scoring 35 points in the first quarter to take a 12-point lead.

By halftime, with both teams' reserves looming larger, the lead had been whittled in half to just six points, but the mood was still light.

Perhaps that was because Golden State can still at times be woefully inept, as elegantly illustrated on their final possession of the first quarter, where they repeatedly volleyed the ball towards the basket but came up empty on a series of point-blank attempts. Officially, Warrior star Antawn Jamison was 'credited' with three missed attempts inside the final five seconds. In the third quarter, the Warriors missed three free throws on one possession, with rookie point guard Gilbert Arenas failing to convert a Sonic technical foul -- Rashard Lewis protesting a foul call too loudly -- for the second time of the evening before Fortson clanked his pair of shots, giving renewed meaning to the term foul shot.

Perhaps Lewis had a case this time, however. Fortson -- not normally a significant offensive threat, but Golden State's leading scorer on this evening with 21 -- shot an inconceivable 15 free throws in the third quarter, tying a Seattle opponent record set back in the team's inaugural season, nearly 35 years ago, by the incomparable Wilt Chamberlin, then playing for the Philadelphia 76ers.

The free throws were of little avail, however, as the Sonics' starters were again simply splendid. Bearing down after halftime, Seattle quickly ran off a 6-0 run to extend the lead back to double-digits and force Warrior head man Brian Winters to a timeout before his players knew what had hit them. An 8-0 run later in the period pushed the Sonic advantage to 78-61; Golden State would not threaten thereafter, with the Seattle lead climbing as high as 21 just prior to the close of the third. Lewis was the catalyst in the period, adding 12 of his team-high 26 points.

The only thing that went wrong for the Sonics in the third was yet another injury, with center Jerome James limping off the court with five and a half minutes remaining. The malady was not as serious as it appeared -- a shin bruise, thanks to an errant Warrior foot -- and James is not expected to miss any action, though he did not return. His play was not necessary any longer, because as he limped off the court the Sonics' starters had achieved a +23 rating (outscoring Golden State by 23 points) in their 16 minutes of play.

As the Seattle offense grew stagnant in the fourth quarter, it briefly appeared that they might leave the hometown crowd angry by failing to achieve the 110 point chalupa mark. Randy Livingston, replacing Shammond Williams in the rotation as the backup to Payton, was determined to get there. He got the Sonics to 108 with a strong drive at the three minute mark. Two misses were at last followed by the requisite score from the baseline.

Box Score