Mavericks Own The Sonics Team With Best Record In The Nba Takes Pratfall

For a change, the Dallas Mavericks didn’t waste a fourth-quarter lead Tuesday night.

What’s more, they broke that nasty habit against the team with the NBA’s best record, the Seattle SuperSonics.

Erick Strickland had a career-high 30 points, Michael Finley scored 29 and the Mavs kept their cool down the stretch to end a five-game losing streak with a stunning 107-98 victory over the Sonics.

“We finally didn’t fold in the fourth quarter,” Mavericks coach Don Nelson said. “We kept our composure, defended very well, and it went our way tonight.”

Dallas blew a 24-point third quarter lead in its previous game Saturday night and fell to Minnesota 113-110 in overtime.

“That Minnesota game stuck in our minds, how we lost,” Finley said. “Tonight we continued to be aggressive down the stretch. We’ve been letting too many games get away. You just can’t stop doing what you did to get the lead.”

Dallas has beaten Seattle in both their meetings this season, giving the Mavericks two of their seven victories. The Mavs had lost 20 of 21 before Tuesday’s game.

Detlef Schrempf scored 21 points, Gary Payton had 20 and Vin Baker 19 points and 11 rebounds for the Sonics, whose three-game winning streak ended.

The Sonics made a fourth-quarter run, cutting a 14-point deficit to 92-86 with 5:17 to play when Payton was credited with a basket on a goaltending call.

But the Mavs scored the next seven on Strickland’s three-point play, Hubert Davis’ 18-footer and Strickland’s two free throws for a 99-86 lead with 3:49 to play.

Seattle made one last push, cutting Dallas’ lead to 102-96 with 38 seconds left on Payton’s drive. But Strickland converted a layup with 31 seconds left and Khalid Reeves added a free throw with 18 seconds to go for a 105-96 advantage.

“We put together a whole game against a great team that’s going to go far in the playoffs,” said Strickland, hampered by two ankle injuries this season after a strong rookie campaign in 1996-97. “We didn’t panic under pressure, drew some fouls and got to the free-throw line.”

The Sonics were coming off a 34-point win at Houston on Monday night, their most lopsided victory of the season.

“It’s pretty disgusting,” Dale Ellis said. “It’s sad to come out and play the way we did. In this league, if you allow a team to get going, they can beat you.”

Mavericks 107, SuperSonics 98

FG FT Reb SEATTLE Min M-A M-A O-T A PF Pts Schrempf 38 9-18 2-2 3-9 3 5 21 Baker 39 7-13 5-11 5-11 0 2 19 McIlvaine 12 0-2 2-2 1-1 0 3 2 Payton 43 10-19 0-0 1-9 7 3 20 Hawkins 38 2-5 6-6 3-5 2 5 10 Ellis 27 2-4 1-1 0-3 2 2 5 Perkins 16 4-6 0-0 1-2 1 3 8 Anthony 11 2-3 0-0 0-1 1 0 6 Kersey 6 1-3 0-0 0-0 0 1 2 Wingate 10 2-4 0-1 0-0 0 2 5 Totals 240 39-77 16-23 14-41 16 26 98

Percentages: FG .506, FT .696.

3-Point Goals: 4-18, .222 (Anthony 2-2, Wingate 1-1, Schrempf 1-4, Perkins 0-1, Ellis 0-2, Hawkins 0-2, Payton 0-6).

Team Rebounds: 4.

Blocked shots: 5 (Payton 2, McIlvaine 2, Baker).

Turnovers: 14 (Payton 6, Hawkins 4, Schrempf, McIlvaine, Kersey, Wingate).

Steals: 6 (Baker 2, Anthony 2, Hawkins, Ellis).

Technical fouls: None.

Illegal defense: 1.

FG FT Reb DALLAS Min M-A M-A O-T A PF Pts Finley 48 12-23 4-5 2-5 3 0 29 Walker 21 3-3 2-6 3-9 2 5 8 Bradley 20 4-8 0-0 2-3 0 2 8 Strickland 39 11-17 5-5 1-2 3 3 30 Davis 34 5-8 0-1 0-2 6 2 10 Reeves 23 5-10 1-2 0-4 2 2 14 Green 33 1-6 1-4 3-7 7 3 3 Scott 22 2-5 0-0 0-4 1 2 5 Totals 240 43-80 13-23 11-36 24 19 107

Percentages: FG .538, FT .565.

3-Point Goals: 8-13, .615 (Strickland 3-4, Reeves 3-4, Scott 1-1, Finley 1-3, Green 0-1).

Team Rebounds: 11.

Blocked shots: 2 (Bradley 2).

Turnovers: 8 (Finley 2, Reeves 2, Walker, Bradley, Davis, Scott).

Steals: 6 (Green 2, Finley, Bradley, Strickland, Reeves).

Technical fouls: Green, 10:10 fourth.

Illegal defense: 1.

Seattle 30 24 22 22 - 98

Dallas 31 34 23 19 - 107

A-13,795 (18,042). T-2:13.