SEATTLE – For three quarters, the Seattle SuperSonics were about as bad as they could be.
Fortunately, there is a fourth quarter in every NBA game. And on Monday night, those final 12 minutes were hugely important to the Sonics.
With one of their most remarkable comebacks in several seasons, Seattle erased an 18-point deficit after three periods, then broke the game open in overtime for a 119-108 victory over the disbelieving Portland Trail Blazers at KeyArena.
Guard Ray Allen led the way with his best scoring game since joining the Sonics late last season, tossing in 42 points, including 20 in the fourth quarter and another seven in overtime. In the final quarter and in OT, Allen was 10-for-14 from the field, including 5-for-8 from the 3-point stripe. He finished the night 16-for-27 for field goals, and 5-for-12 in 3-pointers.
“We needed a hero,” said Sonics coach Nate McMillan. “When Ray is on, he’s on, and he has basically been able to carry this team.
“It’s will,” he added. “I think you use that word with Ray Allen, similar to Michael Jordan. When a team needs someone to carry them on his back, he’s been able to do that single-handedly. You know he wants the shot. We were running plays for other options, but Ray is taking the shot and making big shots.”
The scoring output was Allen’s greatest as a Sonic, surpassing his previous high of 40 he had against the Los Angeles Clippers on March 1, 2003. He fell five points shy of his career high, which was 47 for the Milwaukee Bucks.
“I just wanted the ball to come to me,” said Allen, who outscored the entire Blazers team 20-17 in the final quarter.
In overtime, after the two teams traded early baskets, Allen dropped in a shot from left of the key to put the Sonics on top to stay. He followed moments later with a shot from near the same spot, but this a 3-point goal. Then, after a Portland miss, Allen drew a Blazers double-team and two quick passes found teammate under the basket for a dunk and a foul, and his free throw put Seattle on top 114-106.
Allen had one last field goal with just over two minutes left in OT and it gave the Sonics a 116-106 margin. It was also the point Portland pretty much waved the white flag.
What happened in the late minutes, though, was in dramatic contrast to the game’s first three periods. Then, the lethargic Sonics allowed Portland to build a double-digit lead that suggested a blowout. In particular, the Blazers were punishing the Seattle on the boards, building an astonishing 29-10 rebound margin – the Sonics had a mere two rebounds in the second quarter – with 11 offensive rebounds and 12 second-chance points before the intermission.
At one point, noisy boos filled the arena as Portland missed four shots, but gathered three successive offensive rebounds while the Sonics were standing flat-footed. Things got so bad, Allen even missed a breakaway two-handed dunk midway through the second quarter, spiking the ball off the back rim.
Despite a 64-45 halftime deficit, McMillan said he did not yell in the locker room. That happened on Sunday night, when the listless Sonics were humiliated in Sacramento, 130-99.
“I did a lot of screaming (Sunday) night,” he confessed. “Then I did a lot of talking during shootaround (Monday morning) and a lot of talking before the game. I couldn’t scream anymore. There comes a point in time when they just have to go out and play, and they did.
But in the early fourth quarter, after trading early baskets, Seattle went on a 25-7 scoring burst to pull into a 96-96 tie with 3:20 to play. In addition to Allen’s 20 points, Vlade Radmanovic contributed 11 in the quarter to help pull the Sonics even.
Both teams used perimeter shots to send the game to overtime. With 19 seconds to play, Allen curled to the top of the key and dropped in a 3-point goal to lift Seattle from a one-point deficit to a 104-102 lead.
Portland, without a timeout, worked the ball upcourt. Guard Damon Stoudamire had the last shot, a 22-footer from the right angle that swished with 1.1 seconds on the clock. Seattle had time for an in-bounds pass and a desperation shot, but the pass came to center Jerome James at midcourt. Not knowing how much time was left, he held the ball as time expired.
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