Payton Keeps Sonics Rolling Along Seattle Overwhelms Golden State, Adds To Nba’s Best Won-Loss Record

Gary Payton recorded his fifth career triple-double with 22 points, 11 assists and 10 rebounds to lead Seattle over Golden State 101-87 Tuesday night, the SuperSonics’ 11th straight victory over the Warriors.

The triple-double was Payton’s first this season.

Seattle improved its record to an NBA-best 24-6 with its sixth straight road win. Golden State has lost two straight at home and five of seven overall.

After trailing 57-55 at the half, the Warriors worked their way into a 68-68 tie as Eric Dampier finished off a fast break with a slam dunk with 6:09 remaining in the third quarter.

The Sonics responded with a decisive 14-2 run to take control. Payton scored five of those points, and his 3-pointer gave Seattle its first double-digit lead of the game, 81-70.

The lead reached 13 points, 89-76, with 9:35 to go when Payton converted on a left-handed finger roll. The Sonics steadily pulled away, upping the lead to 94-80 on Dale Ellis’ 3-pointer with 4:58 remaining.

Seattle has won 21 of its last 24 games against Golden State.

Ellis scored 21 points off the bench and went 4 for 5 from 3-point range. He has hit on 20 of his last 24 3-pointers.

The Warriors, struggling on offense all season, have gone seven straight games without scoring 90 points. Joe Smith’s 23 points and 12 rebounds were team highs.

Notes

Payton went 9 for 12 from the field… . Seattle has scored 100 or more points in 10 straight games … . Golden State’s Muggsy Bogues missed the game with a small tear of his right hamstring and will likely be out a week… . Bimbo Coles brought the house down when he swished a one-handed desperation 75-footer just after the halftime buzzer sounded. Alas, the shot did not count… . The Warriors were averaging 106 points allowed in 14 games with Latrell Sprewell, but just 89 points allowed in 13 games without him.

Legacy of losing

In the last five years, the 76ers coaches have been Larry Brown, Doug Moe, John Lucas (all of whom have had 50-win seasons as coaches), Johnny Davis and Fred Carter. But with Philadelphia the best thus far has been Carter, with a 26-56 record in 1993-94. Brown will have trouble matching that this season. What’s worse is it probably starts all over again next season since Clarence Weatherspoon, Jim Jackson and Theo Ratliff are free agents and the 76ers expect to buy out the last year of Derrick Coleman’s contract rather than pay him $13 million. Weatherspoon, who said he’ll certainly leave, has had 72 different teammates since joining the team in 1992.

“Some things that start off bad are worth waiting for,” Brown says. “That’s the way I’m approaching this.”

Having five guaranteed years at $5 million annually makes one think that way. Carter, now an ESPN analyst, also played for the worst team in NBA history, the 1972-73 76ers, who went 9-73. It looks as if the Denver Nuggets could make a good run at that record.

SuperSonics 101, Warriors 87

FG FT Reb SEATTLE Min M-A M-A O-T A PF Pts Baker 37 5-15 6-9 1-5 3 2 16 Schrempf 33 5-10 3-4 1-5 6 2 14 McIlvaine 19 2-5 0-0 1-2 0 3 4 Hawkins 25 3-5 2-2 0-3 2 0 9 Payton 41 9-12 2-2 1-10 11 1 22 Perkins 22 3-7 0-0 1-4 0 0 7 Ellis 30 8-14 1-2 2-5 4 3 21 Williams 7 0-1 0-0 0-0 0 1 0 Wingate 13 2-4 0-0 0-0 2 1 4 Anthony 9 2-5 0-0 0-0 1 1 4 Cotton 2 0-3 0-0 1-3 0 0 0 Snow 2 0-0 0-0 0-0 1 1 0 Totals 240 39-81 14-19 8-37 30 15 101 Percentages: FG .481, FT .737. 3-Point Goals: 9-19, .474 (Ellis 4-5, Payton 2-4, Perkins 1-3, Schrempf 1-2, Hawkins 1-2, Anthony 0-2, Cotton 0-1). Team Rebounds: 7. Blocked shots: 6 (McIlvaine 3, Perkins, Wingate, Snow). Turnovers: 16 (Payton 5, Anthony 3, Schrempf 3, Baker, Hawkins, Ellis, Wingate, Snow). Steals: 16 (Hawkins 4, Payton 4, Williams 3, Ellis 2, Baker, Schrempf, Cotton). Technical fouls: None. Illegal defense: None.

FG FT Reb GOLDEN STATE Min M-A M-A O-T A PF Pts Marshall 42 8-19 1-1 4-5 4 2 18 Smith 41 11-19 1-2 4-12 1 3 23 Dampier 39 4-8 1-3 2-9 3 1 9 Shaw 37 6-11 0-0 0-4 8 2 14 Coles 42 7-16 2-2 0-4 8 3 16 Foyle 10 1-3 0-2 0-5 0 2 2 Delk 17 1-5 0-0 0-1 1 1 2 Spencer 12 1-2 1-2 3-5 1 2 3 Totals 240 39-83 6-12 13-45 26 16 87 Percentages: FG .470, FT .500.

3-Point Goals: 3-7, .429 (Shaw 2-3, Marshall 1-3, Delk 0-1).

Team Rebounds: 8.

Blocked shots: 9 (Smith 4, Dampier 3, Marshall, Foyle).

Turnovers: 22 (Smith 8, Dampier 4, Shaw 3, Coles 3, Delk 2, Spencer, Marshall).

Steals: 11 (Marshall 4, Coles 3, Smith 2, Dampier, Delk).

Technical fouls: None.

Illegal defense: 1.

Seattle 27 30 27 17 - 101

Golden State 30 25 19 13 - 87

A-11,641 (18,500). T-1:56.