By Rich Myhre
Herald Writer
SEATTLE – For the second time in as many games, the Seattle SuperSonics took a tough NBA opponent down to the final moments.
And for the second straight game, the Sonics let a much-needed victory slip through their fingers.
There are probably many ways to explain Seattle’s 99-95 loss to the mighty Sacramento Kings on Thursday night. To start, a sellout crowd of 17,072 at KeyArena would probably point to an astonishing 39-13 free throw margin favoring the visitors, and to a highly dubious sixth foul call on Vin Baker – Seattle’s sole low-post player – in the late minutes.
Both are valid complaints, but the Sonics still had several sins of their own making. In the third quarter, Seattle had a chance to build a double-digit margin, but instead let Sacramento stay close by turning the ball over eight times.
And in the late moments of the game, when the Kings were smoothly rotating the ball out of double-teams to open shooters, Seattle’s offense came to a standstill. The Sonics scored just once in the last 2:20 of the game, and it was a desperation 3-point heave by Rashard Lewis with 13 seconds to play that was too little, too late.
“We have to learn how to win, it’s as simple as that,” said Sonics coach Nate McMillan. “We have young guys making young mistakes. We’re making rookie mistakes. Our rookies are doing that and some of our veterans are doing that. We just have to learn how to put the game away.”
Eyeing the postgame statistic sheet, McMillan cited Sacramento’s free throw advantage, a 49-46 rebound edge that included 18 offensive rebounds by the Kings, and Seattle’s turnovers.
“I’ve always felt, if you win the free throw line and the rebounding game, and if you take care of the ball, you win the game,” he said. “But we didn’t keep them off the line, we didn’t rebound and we didn’t take care of the ball.”
The Sonics led through most of the first half and well into the second half. Aided by Seattle’s woeful ball-handling, the Kings eased in front early in the fourth quarter and build the lead to 89-82 with 5 1/2 minutes to play.
Seattle countered with seven straight points to knot the score, 89-89, with just under three minutes left. Moments later, Vladimir Radmanovic swished a 3-point shot from right of the key for a 92-91 Sonics lead.
After Sacramento’s Vlade Divac sank a free throw, both teams missed chances until sharp-shooting Kings forward Peja Stojakovic put the visitors on top to stay with a 3-pointer from the right baseline with 52 seconds left. Radmanovic followed by missing a potential go-ahead 3-pointer, and Stojakovic dropped in another jumper from right of the key for a 97-92 margin.
The 3-pointer by Lewis gave Seattle a whiff of hope, but two free throws by Bobby Jackson and a missed Lewis 3-pointer in the closing seconds settled the outcome.
Though the Sonics certainly had chances to win, it was hard to ignore a 29-16 disparity in fouls. One of those fouls, perhaps the most dubious call of the night, cost Seattle its only low-post player, Baker, with 2:40 to play in the game. As Divac started to back down in the low post, he and Baker bumped. It was an insignificant bit of contact, and when veteran referee Hue Hollins made the call it was to the disbelief of Baker, McMillan, Sonics owner Howard Schultz and everyone else in the building.
Later, McMillan was very diplomatic in his appraisal. “There were a couple of touch falls that were called and were big calls, but (the officials) made them and that’s part of the game,” he said.
Baker was more blunt. “I thought it was an awful call,” he said. “I thought it was a B.S. call.”
In the first half, Baker was 9-for-15 from the field and added two free throws for 20 points with no fouls. In the second half, against a Kings defense that sent double-team help when Baker put the ball on the floor, he had just two points and all six of his fouls.
Gary Payton led the Sonics with 25 points, despite shooting just 9-for-25 from the field, and he added 13 assists and seven rebounds. Desmond Mason added eight points and a team-best 13 rebounds from the bench.
The Kings, who padded their NBA-leading record to 34-10, were without their best player, All-Star forward Chris Webber, who was suspended by the NBA on Wednesday for an elbowing incident in a Saturday game at Utah. This was the third Seattle-Sacramento game this season and Webber has missed each of them, having sat out the first two games with an ankle injury.
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