Sonics Double Up On Hill Auburn

On a night when the superstars played up to their billing, Detroit was outnumbered 2-1.

Vin Baker’s 31 points and Gary Payton’s near triple-double outdid Grant Hill’s 27 points, 10 rebounds and eight assists as Seattle posted a 94-89 victory.

“We had to handle Grant Hill, while they had to handle Gary Payton and Vin Baker,” George Karl said. “We played a professionally solid basketball game against a good team.”

Payton finished with 17 points, a season-high 10 rebounds and nine assists, falling just short of his seventh career triple-double.

Seattle snapped its two-game losing streak at the Palace and completed a sweep of the season series. The Sonics beat the Pistons 95-89 at Key Arena on Nov. 13.

“Seattle is a very good team, and some of the time you are just going to lose to teams like that,” Hill said. “Our transition defense really hurt us because our guards had to pick up their big men, and that let their guards spot up for open jumpers.”

Hill did get some help from Brian Williams, who had 26 points and a career-high 20 rebounds, but Detroit’s bench only managed three points.

“Obviously, the biggest difference was 26-3 in bench scoring,” Doug Collins said.