Nick’s Magic Dooms Sonics Anderson Scores 31 Against Tired Seattle; Payton Held To 6

Nick Anderson made it easy for the Orlando Magic.

Back from a bout with the flu, the ninth-year pro jump-started a sputtering offense and scored 31 points Wednesday night to help his team snap the Seattle SuperSonics’ five-game winning streak with a 96-83 victory.

“He’s just playing great basketball,” Orlando coach Chuck Daly said, “and we’re going to ride it as long as we can.”

Anderson carried the Magic offensively during a recent five-game winning streak that included home victories over Indiana and the Los Angeles Lakers, but missed the team’s next two games - both losses.

Without him the team struggled to find consistent scoring. His return, however, seemed to boost everyone’s confidence.

“When a guy is playing the way he’s been playing, it allows you to run your offense through him,” said teammate Derek Harper, who had 16 points. “That’s basicaly what we’ve done. We’re posting him up … creating mismatches and getting shots from there. Fortunately, we’re knocking them down.”

Anderson, averaging just less than 28 points in his last six games, went 5 for 6 during a 32-point third quarter that enabled Orlando to break the game open. He finished 13 for 19 and also grabbed eight rebounds.

Seattle, coming off an emotional overtime victory at Miami on Tuesday night, looked like a tired team in shooting 43 percent (33 for 76). Vin Baker led the Sonics with 14 points and nine rebounds, while Greg Anthony scored 12 off the bench.

“There are no excuses,” Baker said, shrugging off questions about fatigue.

“I think our bodies were ready. We weren’t physically tired at all. I think mentally we might have had a little bit of a letdown. But we don’t want to put it on being tired.”

The Sonics trimmed a 12-point deficit to 40-38, but were outscored 14-4 in the last 4:20 of the second quarter to trail 54-42 at the half. The Magic continued to pull away in the third, holding Seattle to 15 points on 38 percent shooting to take a 76-57 lead into the last period.

Derek Strong had 17 points and 10 rebounds for the Magic, who held Seattle’s Gary Payton to six points and two assists - both season lows - in 34 minutes.

Notes

Penny Hardaway sat out his ninth straight game for Orlando because of a strained left calf muscle. He is expected to be sidelined at least another week… . Payton, 3 for 9 from the field, is 6 for 22 in in his last two games… . Kevin Ollie, who signed a 10-day contract on Monday, made his debut for Orlando and scored 2 points in 12 minutes.

Magic 96, SuperSonics 83

FG FT Reb SEATTLE Min M-A M-A O-T A PF Pts Baker 33 4-11 6-7 2-9 4 3 14 Schrempf 27 4-9 0-0 1-3 4 4 10 McIlvaine 13 3-5 0-0 0-0 0 4 6 Hawkins 29 4-5 0-0 0-3 2 3 11 Payton 34 3-9 0-0 1-2 2 2 6 Ellis 24 3-5 2-2 1-2 0 4 8 Williams 21 4-9 2-2 3-5 0 2 10 Perkins 13 1-5 0-0 0-3 2 0 2 McMillan 5 0-1 0-0 1-1 3 0 0 Anthony 27 5-12 0-0 1-4 6 2 12 Wingate 10 2-4 0-0 0-0 2 2 4 Howard 4 0-1 0-0 0-0 0 2 0 Totals 240 33-76 10-11 10-32 25 28 83

Percentages: FG .434, FT .909.

3-Point Goals: 7-17, .412 (Hawkins 3-4, Schrempf 2-3, Anthony 2-5, Ellis 0-1, Perkins 0-1, Payton 0-3). Team Rebounds: 8. Blocked shots: 4 (Baker, McIlvaine, Ellis, Williams). Turnovers: 13 (Baker 3, Schrempf 3, Payton 3, Ellis, Williams, Perkins, team). Steals: 3 (Anthony 2, Ellis). Technical fouls: Payton, 11:46 second; Schrempf, 5:27 fourth. Illegal defense: 1.

FG FT Reb ORLANDO Min M-A M-A O-T A PF Pts Outlaw 44 3-8 4-11 3-8 2 4 10 Grant 42 4-13 2-4 6-11 3 2 10 Schayes 28 2-5 3-4 5-6 3 2 7 Anderson 39 13-19 3-5 0-8 5 0 31 Harper 36 7-12 2-2 0-1 3 2 16 Strong 26 6-14 5-5 4-10 2 2 17 Ollie 12 0-2 2-2 0-1 1 2 2 Wilkins 13 1-2 0-0 0-0 0 1 3 Totals 240 3 6-75 21-33 18-45 19 15 96

Percentages: FG .480, FT .636. 3-Point Goals: 3-11, .273 (Anderson 2-8, Wilkins 1-2, Harper 0-1). Team Rebounds: 10. Blocked shots: 8 (Outlaw 5, Grant, Schayes, Harper). Turnovers: 9 (Harper 4, Outlaw 2, Grant, Schayes, Strong). Steals: 6 (Anderson 3, Outlaw, Grant, Strong). Technical fouls: Harper, 11:46 second. Illegal defense: 1.

Seattle 19 23 15 26 - 83

Orlando 29 25 22 20 - 96

A-17,248 (17,248). T-2:03.