Sonics Rally To Nip Sixers Philadelphia Blows 15-Point Lead Late, Falls 109-104

Playing the final minute to win has become a real problem for the Philadelphia 76ers.

In Monday night’s 109-104 loss to the Seattle Supersonics, the 76ers blew a 15-point lead with 8:28 to play, succumbing when Seattle outscored them 22-9 in the game’s final five minutes.

It was the fourth straight game that Philadelphia, loser of 15 of its last 17, lost in the final minute.

The Sonics, who won their seventh straight road game, tied the game at 102-102 with 52.3 seconds on a 3-pointer by Sam Perkins, who had a season-high 31 points.

Seattle took the lead for good after Scott Williams, who had 14 points and 13 rebounds for the 76ers, missed a layup with 36.5 seconds to play. Gary Payton’s driving layup five seconds later put the Sonics up for good at 104-102.

“It’s almost comical the way we’re losing,” Philadelphia coach John Lucas said. “Seattle was laughing at us the way we lost this one.”

There was no laughter in the Seattle locker room after the game, although the Sonics realized they had the good fortune of playing a team that struggles down the stretch.

“They’re just snakebit, I guess,” coach George Karl said. “We’re very fortunate to win it. We were waiting around and it almost snuck up on us.”

Perkins credited solid defense for the victory. “They were hitting some shots that they don’t usually make, but we kept hitting on the defense and hitting some shots,” he said.

As if their luck wasn’t bad enough, the 76ers saw 7-foot-6 center Shawn Bradley go down with a sprained right knee in the fourth quarter.

Bradley, who stayed on the bench for the rest of the game, was scheduled to get a magnetic resonance imaging test on Tuesday.

After Payton’s layup put the Sonics up for good, Dana Barros, who finished with 19 points, turned the ball over, then fouled Detlef Schrempf.

Schrempf, who had 23 points, hit both free throws to make it 105-102 with 27.2 seconds left.

A rebound basket by Williams with 14.8 seconds to play brought the 76ers to within 1, but Vincent Askew hit two free throws to extend the lead to three with 11.8 seconds to play.

Barros’ 3-point attempt to tie the game with 4 seconds left banged off the rim.

Willie Burton led the 76ers with 27 points, while Clarence Weatherspoon had 22.

The 76ers used a 5-0 run midway through the third quarter to help build a 71-59 lead with 5:35 left in the quarter. They kept that 12-point lead heading into the fourth quarter.

Philadelphia twice jumped out to 16-point leads in the first half, but an aggressive Sonics’ defense keyed Seattle’s comeback to 53-51 at the half.

Perkins had 10 of his 15 first-half points in the second quarter, while Philadelphia was led by Willie Burton’s 18 points in the first half.

SuperSonics 109, 76ers 104

FG FT Reb SEATTLE Min M-A M-A O-T A PF Pts Schrempf 41 7-16 7-8 1-5 3 3 23 Kemp 29 4-8 3-4 2-8 5 4 11 Perkins 35 11-15 6-7 1-4 1 1 31 Gill 28 3-8 0-0 1-1 3 3 6 Payton 39 3-6 1-2 1-2 9 2 7 McMillan 25 2-4 1-2 2-3 9 6 6 Askew 21 3-8 7-9 0-1 2 3 14 Marciulionis 19 5-9 0-0 2-4 2 1 11 Johnson 3 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 1 0 Totals 240 38-74 25-32 10-28 34 24 109

Percentages: FG .514, FT .781.

3-Point Goals: 8-17, .471 (Perkins 3-4, Schrempf 2-2, McMillan 1-2, McMillan 1-2, Askew 1-4, Gill 0-1, Payton 0-2).

Team Rebounds: 12.

Blocked shots: 2 (Schrempf 2).

Turnovers: 12 (Kemp 3, McMillan 3, Payton 2, Marciulionis 2, Askew, Gill).

Steals: 9 (Payton 4, Askew 2, Schrempf, Kemp, Marciulionis).

Technical fouls: Illegal defense, 10:42 fourth; Illegal defense, 4:40 fourth.

Illegal defense: 1.

FG FT Reb PHILADELPHIA Min M-A M-A O-T A PF Pts Weatherspoon 43 9-15 4-4 3-5 4 3 22 Williams 43 7-10 0-0 3-13 4 3 14 Wright 21 2-4 3-3 3-5 2 2 7 Barros 44 6-15 6-6 0-3 6 5 19 Burton 42 5-10 13-15 0-0 3 5 27 Alston 13 1-2 0-0 2-2 1 1 2 Bradley 16 4-10 1-2 2-3 0 4 9 Graham 4 1-2 0-0 0-0 0 1 2 Perry 6 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 1 0 Grayer 8 1-3 0-0 0-0 1 0 2 Totals 240 36-71 27-30 13-31 21 25 104

Percentages: FG .507, FT .900.

3-Point Goals: 5-14, .357 (Burton 4-8, Barros 1-6).

Team Rebounds: 10.

Blocked shots: 7 (Weatherspoon 3, Bradley 3, Wright).

Turnovers: 14 (Barros 5, Burton 4, Williams 2, Bradley, Graham, Perry).

Steals: 5 (Weatherspoon 2, Barros 2, Burton).

Technical fouls: None.

Illegal defense: 1.

Seattle 21 30 18 40 - 109

Philadelphia 33 20 28 23 - 104

A-13,892. T-2:18.

Officials-Jess Kersey, Ed Middleton, Tony Brothers.