Sonics show their hearts aren’t injured
Published 9:00 pm Friday, March 29, 2002
By Rich Myhre
Herald Writer
SEATTLE – Heart, camaraderie, spirit and confidence were not words used to describe the Seattle SuperSonics earlier this season.
They are now.
In one of their most inspired efforts of 2001-02, the Sonics stood toe to toe with the mighty San Antonio Spurs on Friday night, and in the end it was Seattle that eked out a 79-76 victory before a noisy sellout gathering of 17,072 at KeyArena.
Playing without Rashard Lewis and Art Long, both in street clothes because of injuries, and other players bothered by nagging hurts, including leading scorer Gary Payton, the Sonics had to shift little-used backups like Shammond Williams and Olumide Oyedeji into primary roles. Somehow all the odd combinations seemed to work, particularly at the defensive end, where Seattle held the Spurs to their third-lowest scoring total of the season.
All in all, said Sonics coach Nate McMillan, “It was a great win. These guys keep stepping up and facing the challenge, and they keep finding a way to win ballgames.”
The game was settled in the decisive fourth quarter as Seattle quickly erased a four-point Spurs margin and built a lead that twice reached five. San Antonio rallied back, easing in front 76-75 on a pair of David Robinson free throws with 1:15 to play.
The Sonics tied the score with 51 seconds left as Vin Baker made the first of two free throws. From there, Seattle had three superb defensive possessions and a brilliant Payton layin to seal the outcome.
After Baker’s free throw, Seattle forced the Spurs to work the ball on the perimeter as they looked for a shot. With the shot clock near zero, San Antonio’s Steve Smith was left to hoist an off-balance 3-point try that missed, giving the Sonics the ball with 26 seconds remaining.
After a timeout, Seattle isolated Payton on the top of the key. Working against defender Bruce Bowen, Payton ran the shot clock down to five before spinning away from Bowen and driving the right side of the lane. As defensive whiz Tim Duncan slid across the key to assist, Payton scooped an arching layin try off the backboard. The ball dropped cleanly through the net with 6.7 seconds left as the crowd erupted with cheers.
“It was classic (Payton),” said teammate Brent Barry. “As soon as he gets that spin going, he has the edge. He’s got a couple of guys chasing him, one of them Tim Duncan, and it was just a great effort by Gary to get in there and lay it up. That’s the guy we rely on.”
At the other end, Duncan missed a jumper from just outside the free throw line and Jerome James was fouled as he gathered the rebound. He made one of two chances for a three-point Seattle lead with 1.3 seconds on the clock.
The Spurs had one last gasp. After a timeout, a cross-court pass to Duncan was deflected out of bounds by Seattle’s Randy Livingston. Then, with 0.5 seconds to play, Smith tried for a desperation 3-pointer, but it missed badly and would not have counted anyway, according to official Ron Garretson.
Seattle has not played a game since mid-February without at least one player missing from the regular rotation, and still the team is playing its best basketball in perhaps four seasons. Certainly the Sonics are much-improved from the ballclub that was under .500 for most of November and December.
“I think these guys have grown up,” McMillan said. “I looked at (tape of) us when we played the Spurs in November, and we’re now a totally different team. You can see it in the way we play defense and in the looks on our faces when we take the floor. The confidence level has definitely gone up. These guys believe.”
Said Baker: “It’s a credit to Nate to see how this team’s personality has changed so dramatically during the course of the season.”
The Sonics have won three straight games, six of their last seven and 17 of the last 23. Seattle is 11 games over .500, its best winning percentage to date this season. Also, the team’s magic number to clinch a playoff spot is five. Any combination of Sonics wins and Los Angeles Clippers losses totaling five will give Seattle its first postseason berth since the 1999-2000 season.
The combined total of 155 points was the lowest of the season for a Sonics game. The previous low was the 164 points scored in a Jan. 4 game against Philadelphia, which the 76ers won 87-77.
