Sonics rally without Payton, beat Suns 90-79

By Rich Myhre

Herald Writer

SEATTLE – Ordinarily, the Seattle SuperSonics don’t win close games without big contributions down the stretch by All-Star guard Gary Payton.

Yet it happened Wednesday night, and no one was more delighted than Payton himself.

Facing the rival Phoenix Suns, the Sonics erased an eight-point deficit late in the third quarter and went on to an impressive 90-79 victory before a gathering of 15,124 spectators at KeyArena. In that span of 14 minutes, Seattle outscored the visitors 33-14 – and Payton scored just two of those points. He finished the night with a mere 11 points – tying his season low – and was scoreless through the entire fourth quarter.

Was he grumbling about a decidedly un-Payton-like showing? Hardly.

“This is great for us,” Payton said. “This will get (the other Sonics) more confidence. They’ll know they don’t have to go to me all the time to win basketball games. Especially against a good team like Phoenix.”

Payton went to the bench to start the fourth quarter, as he usually does. What was unusual is that he stayed on the sidelines for nearly eight minutes – almost certainly his longest fourth-quarter respite in a close game this season.

“We were playing well (with the unit on the court),” Seattle coach Nate McMillan explained. “They looked like they were OK, and they were able to keep the lead. I was going to rest Gary as long as I could. If they would have tied the score, I probably would have put him back in. … I want him to sit as long as I can in the fourth. I think he’s wearing down, and then he doesn’t have anything late in the game.”

By the time Payton returned, the Sonics had a 77-71 lead. The margin was soon in double digits, where it would remain through the game’s final moments.

“It was great to sit (on the bench) and watch,” Payton said. “I had a good time. (The other players) did it with defense and hustling, and it was fun for them. And now if we’re in a situation where I can’t play, they know they can step up and win by themselves.”

Several Sonics had outstanding games, and no one was more brilliant than Brent Barry, Payton’s starting backcourt mate. Barry led Seattle with 21 points (shooting 8-for-12 from the field and 3-for-4 from the 3-point stripe to go with two free throws) and had six of the team’s 10 steals (tying a career high). He added five rebounds, five assists, committed just one turnover, and even had two blocked shots.

Rookie forward Vladimir Radmanovic came off the bench to score 11 points and nab six rebounds, including seven points and four rebounds in the decisive fourth quarter. And backups Desmond Mason and Earl Watson, though they had modest statistical totals, ignited a Seattle defensive surge in the second half that held Phoenix to just 27 points after the break.

“We have guys on this team who can play the game and get the job done,” Barry said. “If those leaders of our team, G (Payton) and Vin, will put some faith in our guys, the nights we respond are steps in the right direction for our ballclub.”

The win helps purge some of the bad feeling after consecutive home losses to Portland, Sacramento and Chicago last week.

“It’s important that you take advantage of your home court,” McMillan said. “You should play good basketball at home. You don’t want to get beat at home because you’re not executing and playing with intensity. The last three games, part of that was to blame. And that can’t happen at home.

“We had some guys really step up tonight and play well. Defensively, we turned it up a notch. It was a key, to hold this team to 27 points in the second half. I always feel that when we defend we play better offensively, and tonight we did that in the second half. It was definitely defense that got our offense turned around.”

The victory also means the Sonics will close the pre-All-Star portion of their schedule above .500 (25-23). Which is, given the youth of this team, an accomplishment of sorts.

“It’s hard to (feel good) when you look at some of the losses we’ve had,” McMillan said. “You look back and think, ‘What if?’ But this is where we’re at, and we’ll take this and try to play better in the second half.”