Sonics Escape Clippers Payton Warms To The Task After A Cool Start To Rally Seattle Past Los Angeles 101-100

The Los Angeles Clippers and Seattle SuperSonics staged a long-range shooting contest Monday night, with each team connecting 10 times from 3-point range.

Clippers guard Darrick Martin tried to make it 11 at the final buzzer, but his shot over Hersey Hawkins caromed off the back rim and the Sonics escaped with a 101-100 victory.

“They might have been the better team tonight,” said Sonics coach George Karl, whose team owns the NBA’s best record at 42-13.

“We played a great game, but they never let down. We had to fight off a hard one tonight.”

Vin Baker scored 27 points and Gary Payton recovered from a cold start with eight of his 12 points in the final 4 minutes, helping the Sonics beat the Clippers for the 18th time in their last 19 meetings.

Los Angeles lost for the seventh consecutive time and 15th time in 16 games overall, despite 24 points from Lamond Murray.

The Clippers, who attempted a season-high 26 shots from 3-point range the last time the Sonics came here Dec. 16, tried 20 this time. Martin made three in the final 6:33 - the last one giving the Clippers a 97-91 lead with 2-1/2 minutes left.

“Offensively and defensively, this is the best he has played since coming here,” coach Bill Fitch said. “What he did tonight was special. He did things tonight to take his game to the next level - where I hope he is able to stay.”

The Clippers failed to hang on despite Martin’s heroics. Payton, who missed eight of his first nine shots, capped a 10-0 run with his second 3-pointer of the fourth quarter and a breakaway layup for a 101-97 lead with 33 seconds to play.

Eric Piatkowski, who scored 19 points for Los Angeles, hit a 3-pointer with 15 seconds left to pull the Clippers within one. The Clippers then controlled a jump ball, but Martin missed the potential game-winner as time expired.

“I was teasing the guys. I had my dance ready for it to go in,” said Martin, who played all 48 minutes. “I came up, they set a good screen and I got a good look.”

Murray opened the fourth quarter with a 3-pointer that capped a 17-4 run and gave the Clippers a 76-74 lead. Seattle responded with a 9-0 spurt, including a pair of 3-pointers by Greg Anthony, but Martin connected twice from behind the arc in a 48-second span to tie the score at 86.

The Sonics never led until Hawkins’ 3-pointer gave them a 56-54 advantage with 9:43 left in the third quarter. They extended the margin to 70-59 with a 12-2 run, before Piatkowski answered with consecutive 3-pointers.

Piatkowski missed a 3-point attempt moments later, but Rodney Rogers slammed it home. Rogers then blocked Sam Perkins’ jumper, and Rogers’ ensuing slam dunk trimmed Seattle’s lead to 74-73 with 14 seconds left in the quarter.

“This team always plays us tough,” said Seattle’s Nate McMillan, who made his first start of the season after missing the first 51 games because of surgery on his right knee. “We were playing back-to-back games, and they came out very hard like we thought they would.”

The Sonics trailed by as many as 10 points before tying the score at 51 with a 16-6 spurt.

Notes

Payton missed his first six shots and finished 5 for 13. He also had 10 assists, five rebounds and three steals. … Detlef Schrempf missed his fourth consecutive game because of soft tissue swelling in his throat. The 13-year veteran has sat out 54 games the last three seasons after missing only 21 the previous nine seasons.

SuperSonics 101, Clippers 100

FG FT Reb SEATTLE Min M-A M-A O-T A PF Pts McMillan 25 0-4 0-0 1-5 1 3 0 Baker 39 12-20 3-9 3-7 2 2 27 McIlvaine 24 2-3 2-4 4-6 0 4 6 Payton 39 5-13 2-2 0-5 10 1 14 Hawkins 34 6-11 3-3 0-1 5 3 18 Ellis 27 5-10 0-0 0-0 1 1 12 Perkins 28 5-13 3-4 0-7 5 2 14 Wingate 7 0-2 0-2 1-1 0 1 0 Williams 5 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 1 0 Anthony 12 4-5 0-0 0-1 0 2 10 Totals 240 39-81 13-24 9-33 24 20 101 Percentages: FG .481, FT .542.

3-Point Goals: 10-24, .417 (Hawkins 3-7, Ellis 2-3, Anthony 2-3, Payton 2-5, Perkins 1-4, McMillan 0-1, Baker 0-1).

Team Rebounds: 11.

Blocked shots: 2 (Baker, McIlvaine).

Turnovers: 10 (Payton 4, Baker 3, Hawkins 2, Ellis).

Steals: 11 (Payton 3, Anthony 3, Hawkins 2, Perkins 2, McMillan).

Technical fouls: None.

Illegal defense: 1.

FG FT Reb L.A. CLIPPERS Min M-A M-A O-T A PF Pts Murray 35 9-12 3-6 2-9 2 0 24 Rogers 29 5-8 2-2 2-8 3 2 13 Austin 38 7-17 3-6 2-5 2 2 17 Martin 48 4-11 0-0 0-3 7 2 11 Piatkowski 42 6-14 4-4 2-5 4 3 19 Wright 26 1-3 1-4 2-9 2 2 3 Taylor 16 5-8 3-5 3-5 1 4 13 Robinson 6 0-4 0-0 1-2 0 0 0 Totals 240 37-77 16-27 14-46 21 15 100 Percentages: FG .481, FT .593.

3-Point Goals: 10-20, .500 (Murray 3-4, Martin 3-6, Piatkowski 3-7, Rogers 1-2, Robinson 0-1).

Team Rebounds: 14.

Blocked shots: 7 (Rogers 3, Austin 2, Murray, Wright).

Turnovers: 20 (Austin 7, Taylor 3, Murray 2, Rogers 2, Martin, Piatkowski, Wright, Team 3).

Steals: 5 (Murray, Rogers, Martin, Piatkowski, Wright).

Technical fouls: Austin, 5:52 third.

Illegal defense: 1.

Seattle 26 25 23 27 - 101

L.A. Clippers 35 18 20 27 - 100

A-6,578 (16,021). T-2:14.