Sonics earn dignity, victory
SALT LAKE CITY – Trailing by 20 entering the fourth quarter, the Seattle SuperSonics were hoping just to get out of Utah with a little dignity.
They left with quite a bit.
The Sonics outscored Utah 39-16 in the final quarter, rallying to win 106-103 Saturday and humbling the Jazz on the night they unveiled their division championship banner.
“Coming out of the huddle going into the fourth quarter, coaches said just keep fighting for the next five minutes,” said Rashard Lewis, who scored 28 of his 35 points in the second half.
After that first five minutes, the Sonics had taken a blowout and made it interesting. After 10 minutes, what was once a 22-point margin was down to three, and in the final minute the Sonics completed the comeback by passing the Jazz and hanging on to win it.
Seattle was 6 for 8 from 3-point range in the fourth quarter.
“We finally hit our rhythm and those 3s came up big,” Lewis said. “We was able to pull within 10 and kind of took over the game from there.”
Earl Watson had 15 points and nine assists, and Nick Collison added 14 points and seven rebounds in helping the Sonics end a four-game losing streak.
“You remember the season as a whole, but it is a good win,” Collison said. “It’s good for fans and people to see that we’re still trying.”
Seattle was playing on the day All-Star guard Ray Allen had surgery on both ankles to remove bone spurs. Guard Luke Ridnour didn’t travel with the team because of a sprained ankle.
The Jazz blew a 17-point lead the night before in a loss at Sacramento, then topped that at home.
Deron Williams had 24 points and 13 assists, and Carlos Boozer had 16 points and 13 rebounds for Utah, which leads Houston by one game for the fourth seed in the Western Conference playoffs.
The Jazz have lost three straight and are in jeopardy of having to start the playoffs on the road.
“We gave up 21 points on turnovers. Some of those were just totally unforced,” Jazz coach Jerry Sloan said. “It looked like we hadn’t played with each other. That’s what happens when the pressure gets on you a little bit. We’ve got to learn how to deal with it.”
The Jazz could have increased the lead over the Rockets to two games had they hung on in the fourth quarter.
But Seattle started hitting from outside and didn’t stop until Lewis hit a 13-footer that put the Sonics up 102-101 with 21 seconds left. Collison added two free throws and Lewis hit two more from the line with 0.9 seconds left.
Utah had time for one last shot, but Derek Fisher had to rush after catching the inbounds pass, and his 3-point attempt hit the top of the backboard as time expired.
“I don’t think we lost the game in last minute or last couple of minutes,” said Mehmet Okur, who scored 10 for Utah. “If you look at the second half, we gave them what they want. They score every time they catch the ball. We cannot play this way in the playoffs.”
Utah outrebounded Seattle 38-25, but also put Seattle on the free throw line 23 times. The Sonics hit 16 free throws, twice as many as the Jazz.