Blazers Ride Rider For Win Over Sonics

Isaiah Rider scored nine of his 26 points in the final 3:02 and the Portland Trail Blazers beat the Seattle SuperSonics 92-90 in an exhibition game Thursday night.

The Blazers improved their preseason record to 3-1, while the Sonics lost for the fourth time in five games.

Rasheed Wallace added 18 points for Portland. Gary Payton topped Seattle with 20 points.

John Crotty put Portland ahead to stay, 79-78, with 3:28 left on a pair of free throws after being fouled by Payton. The foul was called by Violet Palmer, who is hoping to become the first woman referee in the NBA.

Then Rider went on his tear, scoring on a fastbreak layup with 3:02 left, two free throws with 2:43 to go and a 15-footer with 2:17 remaining to give the Blazers an 85-78 advantage.

Trail Blazers 92, SuperSonics 90

Portland (92) - Augmon 4-8 1-4 9, Wallace 6-14 6-6 18, Sabonis 3-7 0-0 7, Crotty 1-4 5-5 7, Rider 9-15 4-4 26, Higgins 2-6 0-0 4, Al. Williams 0-2 0-2 0, Cato 4-5 1-2 9, O’Neal 2-5 2-2 6, Grant 2-3 2-2 6. Totals 33-69 21-27 92.

Seattle (90) - Baker 4-14 3-5 11, Schrempf 4-13 3-4 11, Perkins 2-3 0-0 6, Payton 7-16 4-6 20, Wingate 1-5 0-0 2, Ellis 3-11 0-0 7, Kersey 3-10 2-2 8, Aa. Williams 6-12 0-1 12, Anthony 2-3 1-2 5, Howard 0-2 0-0 0, Snow 1-3 2-2 4, Ehlo 1-3 0-0 2, McIlvaine 1-3 0-0 2. Totals 35-98 15-22 90.

Portland 24 21 21 26 - 92

Seattle 21 19 24 26 - 90

3-Point goals-Portland 5-12 (Rider 4-8, Sabonis 1-2, Wallace 0-1, Higgins 0-1). Seattle 5-14 (Perkins 2-2, Payton 2-5, Ellis 1-3, Ehlo 0-1, Schrempf 0-3). Fouled out-None. Rebounds-Portland 42 (Sabonis 11), Seattle 48 (Aa. Williams 10). Assists-Portland 23 (Crotty 11), Seattle 22 (Payton 7). Total fouls-Portland 22, Seattle 23. Technicals-Wallace, Crotty. A-9,431.