Sonics fold in fourth quarter, lose 98-97

Published 9:00 pm Friday, November 21, 2003

SEATTLE – Memphis Grizzlies point guard Jason Williams has long been known as one of the NBA’s flashiest passers, but on Friday night it was his perimeter shooting that was particularly costly to the Seattle SuperSonics.

Williams scored 28 points, including 24 in a remarkable second-half display, to trigger a Memphis comeback that lifted the visitors to a 98-97 victory at KeyArena. The Grizzlies, who erased two 10-point deficits early in the fourth quarter, won in Seattle for just the first time in 16 attempts in franchise history.

“Jason was spectacular,” said Memphis coach Hubie Brown. “Every one of his 3-point shots was a major shot under pressure. … He carried us. I mean, he absolutely carried us.”

Williams had two 3-pointers in the late moments of the game and together they were decisive. The first, an astonishing fadeaway from perhaps 27 feet left of the key, put Memphis up by two points with 1:17 on the clock.

Then, after Seattle tied the score, followed by missed shots from both teams, the Grizzlies had possession inside the last half-minute. Isolated on Seattle’s Brent Barry at the top of the key, Williams gave a jab step, then pulled up a step behind the 3-point line and released a shot that swished cleanly for a 97-94 lead.

“We knew (Williams) has 3-point range and we just have to get up and guard him,” said a dejected Nate McMillan, Seattle’s head coach. “He will launch 3s from 2 or 3 feet behind the line. And if he on he’s definitely going to come down and take the next shot. We left him open a couple of times and then at the end he hit a big one with pretty good defense.”

Seattle still had a chance to tie in the last seconds. After a timeout, Barry ended up with the ball on the left wing and his 3-point attempt looked good in the air, but caught the back rim. Grizzlies forward Lorenzen Wright rebounded and was immediately fouled. He made the first of two chances for a four-point margin, then missed the second.

Because the Sonics were out of timeouts, Vlade Radmanovic dribbled quickly out of backcourt and launched a 3-pointer from the top of the key that was true, but left only .9 seconds on the clock. Still, that was enough time for some last remaining drama. After a timeout, Memphis’ Shane Battier tried to inbound the ball at midcourt, but it inexplicably trickled off his fingertips and was retrieved by Seattle’s Flip Murray, who called an immediate timeout. After a conference, the officials gave the Sonics the ball in their own backcourt, but with no timeouts they could not advance the ball.

Barry ended up tossing a pass down the sideline that Rashard Lewis caught, whirled and shot, but the try sailed well over the basket as the horn sounded.

The loss was Seattle’s third straight loss at KeyArena following a home-opening win over the Portland Trail Blazers. The defeats came against Atlanta, Miami and Memphis – all teams at .500 or below when they faced the Sonics.

“We’ve talked about executing, defending and making plays,” McMillan said. “I don’t think there’s much more you can say than that. There’s not a magic wand that can be waved. We had a nice lead (eight points) going into the fourth quarter, but now you have to finish the game. You have to make plays.”

Seattle was led by Murray’s 26 points to go with five rebounds, four assists and three blocked shots (the Sonics finished with 11 blocked shots for the game). Barry had a poor shooting night, going just 2-for-7 from the field for seven points, but contributed 12 rebounds and eight assists.

Lewis, meanwhile, is one of Seattle’s top scorers, but was kept well in check by the Grizzlies. He finished the night with just nine points on 4-for-11 shooting as the visitors frequently confronted him with double-teams.

“He’s going to face that,” McMillan said. “He’s earned some respect from the league and every night guys are going to challenge him. He’s a big part of what we like to do and (opponents) know that if you shut him down that’s a big part of our offense.”

Though Lewis is usually accommodating to the media, his frustration was obvious this night.

“I ain’t got nothin’ for ya’all,” he said to approaching sports writers.

Perhaps no Sonic struggled more than backup center Jerome James. One day after announcing a goal of 10 rebounds, James managed no rebounds in eight minutes of the first half. He did not get off the bench in the second half.

Asked about James’ play, McMillan said, “I don’t think there’s anything to say.”