Seattle snaps skid

SEATTLE – Ray Allen scored 29 points and Rashard Lewis awakened with the rest of the SuperSonics in the fourth quarter to lead Seattle to a 99-87 victory over the New Jersey Nets on Monday night.

Lewis scored 10 of his 20 points in the final quarter, when Seattle outscored New Jersey 33-17. The Sonics (5-7) ended a three-game losing streak by rallying after trailing for all but two possessions of the first three periods.

Vince Carter led the Nets (5-5), the Atlantic Divison’s early leader, with 27 points. But he also had eight turnovers. Carter missed consecutive shots, the second one in the lane, immediately after Luke Ridnour gave Sonics the lead for the final time with 3:59 left.

Ridnour broke an 83-all tie and gave Seattle its third lead of the game with a 3-point basket with 1 second remaining on the shot clock, following a loose-ball scramble. He was 1 of 6 before that shot.

Lewis followed with a hook shot in the lane to put the Sonics up 88-83.

After Carter’s steal, Johan Petro blocked Carter’s runner in the lane. Ridnour converted that fast break with a runner of his own and Seattle led 90-84 with 2:29 to go.

The Nets made just one field goal over the final 6:11. They were outscored 20-8 in that decisive span.

Carter had 19 points on 7 of 9 shooting in the first 14 minutes. His final basket of that surge was a fadeaway 22-foot jumper as the shot-clock buzzer sounded. Carter then blew on each of his hands as if to cool them off while jogging back down the floor.

His playful trick seemed to cost him – Carter went scoreless for the next 18 minutes and had just eight points the final 38 minutes.

Allen warmed as Carter cooled. Seattle’s All-Star had 13 of his 18 first-half points during the second period to keep the Sonics in the game, which New Jersey led 51-45 at halftime.

The Sonics took their first lead since 10-8 with a 7-0 run late in the third quarter. Lewis made a 3-point shot off a drive by Allen, and Damien Wilkins dunked following a turnover by Jason Kidd to make it 64-63 with two minutes left in the period.

But Richard Jefferson, returning after missing five games with a sprained left ankle, made an open 3 to put the Nets back up entering the final period.

New Jersey’s second-leading scorer badly missed his only shot of the first half and later had turnovers on consecutive possessions. His first basket came 7 1/2 minutes into the third period, a slick, spinning fadeaway in the lane over Lewis. Jefferson finished with nine points in 26 minutes.

SuperSonics 99, Nets 87

Percentages: FG .458, FT .739. 3-Point Goals: 4-16, .250 (Nachbar 1-2, Jefferson 1-3, Williams 1-3, Carter 1-4, Kidd 0-2, Wright 0-2). Team Rebounds: 10. Team Turnovers: 24 (22 PTS). Blocked Shots: 3 (Krstic 2, Jefferson). Turnovers: 22 (Carter 8, Kidd 5, Collins 2, Jefferson 2, Moore 2, Williams 2, Krstic). Steals: 5 (Wright 2, Carter, Kidd, Moore). Technical Fouls: Defensive Three Second, 1:54 first; Defensive Three Second, 4:08 second.

Percentages: FG .427, FT .735. 3-Point Goals: 10-24, .417 (Allen 4-11, Ras.Lewis 3-6, Ridnour 2-3, Watson 1-4). Team Rebounds: 10. Team Turnovers: 15 (23 PTS). Blocked Shots: 4 (Petro 3, Wilcox). Turnovers: 15 (Ras.Lewis 4, Ridnour 4, Collison 2, Wilcox 2, Petro, Watson, Wilkins). Steals: 9 (Allen 3, Ras.Lewis 2, Petro, Ridnour, Watson, Wilkins). Technical Fouls: Defensive Three Second, 7:13 third.

A—14,621 (17,072).