Heat scald woeful Sonics

  • Rich Myhre / Herald Writer
  • Friday, December 7, 2001 9:00pm
  • Sports

By Rich Myhre

Herald Writer

SEATTLE – In a season of calamity, the Miami Heat have enjoyed one small saving grace – they own the Seattle SuperSonics.

The visiting Heat, which brought an NBA-worst 2-14 record into Friday night’s meeting at KeyArena, hit a last-second shot to send the contest into overtime, then took the game in hand during the extra period to snag a 98-94 victory before a disbelieving crowd of 13,645.

It was the Heat’s second win against the Sonics this season, with both coming in overtime, and it broke Miami’s overall 12-game losing streak. The outcome was also the Heat’s first win ever in Seattle (or Tacoma in 1994-95) in 14 attempts, dating back to the team’s 1988-89 expansion season.

Afterward, happy Miami players celebrated on the court as the stunned Sonics headed for the locker room.

“Tonight was a very tough game,” Miami center Alonzo Mourning said. “But the bottom line is that we got a ‘W.’ We can just take this and build from it.”

The Sonics had a chance to win in regulation, having a one-point lead and the ball in the late moments. Instead, Seattle’s Rashard Lewis made just one of two free throw chances with 9.9 seconds left, leaving the Heat down just 88-86. Guard Jim Jackson, working against Gary Payton, Seattle’s best backcourt defender, then sent the game to overtime with an 18-foot shot from left of the key – the ball dropping through at the buzzer.

In overtime, it was all Miami. The Sonics missed their first eight chances from the field, allowing the visitors to seize a 96-90 lead with 25 seconds to play, and the Heat was able to protect the margin to the end with free throws. Seattle was just 2-for-12 from the field in the extra period, and both baskets were layins conceded by the visitors to avoid fouls in the late seconds.

“I think a lot of guys’ legs were tired,” Lewis said. “We played a lot of minutes (because of foul trouble, three Sonics played 46 minutes or more) and we didn’t have a lot of lift in our legs, and so a lot of our shots were falling short.”

Lewis, Gary Payton and Brent Barry all played gallantly for Seattle. Payton led the way with 25 points, 11 assists and nine rebounds, narrowly missing his second consecutive triple-double. Lewis chipped in 22 points, 11 rebounds and two blocked shots, while Barry provided 18 points, six rebounds, six assists and two steals.

At the other extreme was the woeful performance of forward Vin Baker, a onetime NBA All-Star whose season is beginning to come undone. Baker was limited to 24 minutes because of foul trouble (he drew his sixth foul with 2:51 left in the fourth quarter) and managed just five points and two rebounds.

Baker’s most embarrassing moment came midway through the first quarter, when he went to the free throw line for three chances. He missed the first two, but was rewarded with a third try because of a Miami lane violation. Baker missed that attempt, too, prompting boos from the KeyArena crowd.

For the Sonics, it was their fifth defeat in the last six games and the third in a row. With difficult road contests upcoming against Portland (tonight) and the Los Angeles Lakers (Tuesday), Seattle’s losing string could easily stretch to five games and beyond.

“The last time I looked at my calendar, it’s still December,” said Seattle’s Brent Barry. “It’s a long, long year. We’ve played a lot of games to this point, and we’ve just got to find a way to get ourselves playing a little bit more consistently. Hopefully that will mean wins.

“I don’t think there’s any need for a panic mode,” he said. “We’ve got games to play and practices to get better, and that’s all we should be focused on right now.”

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