RECAP | BOX SCORE | GAME FLOW

DENVER (AP) _ Gary Payton scored 27 points and Brent Barry added 21 as the Seattle SuperSonics beat the Denver Nuggets 117-100 in an exhibition game Friday night.

Payton was 3-for-6 from 3-point range and 8-of-10 from the free throw line. Seattle (3-2) outrebounded Denver 64-56 led by Jelani McCoy's 14 rebounds.

Raef LaFrentz led Denver (1-5) with 19 points.

Denver trailed 85-81 at the start of the fourth quarter, but failed to score over the opening 2:56 and fell behind 92-81. Chauncey Billups hit a 3-pointer with 5:25 left to cut the Seattle lead to 98-92, but Denver couldn't get on track and shot 5-for-24 in the fourth quarter.

LaFrentz scored 13 points in the third quarter, but Payton matched that. LaFrentz hit his third 3-pointer of the quarter with 1:55 left to bring Denver within 80-79, but the Sonics held the Nuggets to a basket by Roy Rogers over the rest of the quarter, while Payton was 5-for-6 from the free throw line.