SuperSonics rule Kings
SEATTLE – Antonio Daniels scored 14 of his 18 points in the fourth quarter, helping the Seattle SuperSonics to their third victory this season over the Sacramento Kings, 115-107 Thursday night.
The Northwest Division-leading Sonics won their fourth game in a row, while the Kings dropped their third straight.
All-Stars Ray Allen and Rashard Lewis led the way for the Sonics with 34 and 23 points, respectively. Daniels, Seattle’s valuable reserve point guard, shined in the final period while playing the entire 12 minutes in place of starter Luke Ridnour.
Peja Stojakovic led the Kings with 28 points, while Cuttino Mobley had 23 points and Chris Webber had 19 points and nine rebounds.
The Kings led 103-100 after two free throws by Stojakovic with 3:51 left, but Daniels made a steal and a fast-break dunk with 3:05 left before Lewis put the Sonics ahead 105-100 with a three-point play with 2:35 left.
Two free throws by Vladimir Radmanovic put the Sonics ahead 107-103 with 1:47 to go before Darius Songaila of the Kings made a layup. Daniels made two free throws with 1:30 left after being fouled by Webber to put Seattle ahead 109-105.
The Kings played without starting center Brad Miller, who was suspended for one game by the NBA for throwing a tantrum at the end of a game with Phoenix on Tuesday night. Miller, the team’s top rebounder with 9.3 per game and its No. 5 scorer at 15.6, missed his first game of the season.
It was an emotional game. Seattle’s Danny Fortson was ejected with 7:09 left after skirmishing with Webber after fouling him hard. Both players were assessed technical fouls.
In the third quarter, Webber yelled in anger from the bench at Seattle’s Reggie Evans after the players fought hard for rebounding position all night. Evans finished with 12 rebounds.
The Kings scored the first 11 points of the second half, including two 3-pointers by Mobley, to take a 63-54 lead after the Sonics led 54-52 at halftime. But the Sonics, with Allen scoring 14 of his points, came back to regain the lead before falling behind 81-77 after three quarters.