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RECAP
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BOX SCORE
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GAME FLOW
SEATTLE (AP) -- The Seattle SuperSonics' victory over the
Cleveland Cavaliers on Monday night looked a lot like their season
so far: dismal start, improving middle and a stellar finish.
"There's no quit in us," said Seattle's Vin Baker, who had a
career-high seven blocks in the Sonics' 104-86 victory. "We don't
know where we're at mathematically for the playoffs or anything. We
just know we won't quit."
The Sonics (39-34) have won eight of their last nine games, but
they trail both Minnesota and Houston in the race for the eighth
and final Western Conference playoff spot.
"We've got nine games to go. We're going to try to win all nine
and take a run into the playoffs," said Patrick Ewing, who
returned from a strained lower back to score 12 points in 21
minutes.
"We had opportunities earlier to make a run, and we let some
games slip away," said Sonics coach Nate McMillan, who has led the
team to a 33-25 record since taking over for the fired Paul
Westphal on Nov. 27.
"We have some tough games remaining, and it's going to be tough
to make it" into the playoffs, McMillan said. "Minnesota is
playing well. They're not letting us catch them."
The Sonics play host to the Timberwolves on Wednesday.
Gary Payton led the Sonics with 21 points, Ruben Patterson added
16 and Rashard Lewis had 10 rebounds.
Wesley Person led the Cavaliers with 15 points, while Andre
Miller had 14 points and 10 assists.
Seattle beat Cleveland for the 11th consecutive time, dating to
1993, as the Sonics maintained a 20-point lead for much of the
fourth quarter.
"In the second half, we came out and just couldn't get anything
consistently going, especially on the inside," Cavaliers coach
Randy Wittman said. "They came out and really got after us
physically a little bit, and I don't think we responded to that
well."
The Sonics committed eight turnovers in the first quarter. On
one fast break, the ordinarily sharp-passing Payton zipped the ball
to a wide-open official with no teammates standing within 10 feet.
Seattle trailed by seven going into the second, but used a 16-2
run to pull ahead as Vin Baker blocked four shots.
"Vin came in and made some huge defensive plays, not just the
blocks, but he took some charges, too," said the Sonics' Emanual
Davis.
"Defensively, we were able to take them out and eventually take
over this game," McMillan said.
"The second quarter killed us tonight," Cleveland's Andre
Miller said. "They made big plays and got a lot of easy baskets."
Seattle shot 15-of-23, or 65 percent, from the field in the
second quarter, including 3-for-3 from 3-point range.
Seattle led 56-48 at the half.
Payton had 17 points in the first half, and Person scored 11 and
Miller 10 for the Cavaliers.
Game notes
In the teams' only other meeting this season, March 1 in
Cleveland, the Sonics won in overtime 101-99. Seattle came in
leading the all-time series with the Cavaliers 47-30. Cleveland has
not won at Seattle since March 5, 1991. ... The Cavaliers were
without guard-forward Jimmy Jackson, who was placed on the injured
list earlier Monday earlier Monday because of muscle inflammation
on the sole of his left foot. Jackson has averaged 10.3 points
since he was acquired Jan. 2 in a trade with Atlanta.
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ALSO SEE
NBA Scoreboard
Cleveland Clubhouse
Seattle Clubhouse
RECAPS
Philadelphia 90
Milwaukee 78
Denver 109
Chicago 104
Phoenix 104
LA Lakers 83
Dallas 98
Utah 90
Portland 104
LA Clippers 96
Seattle 104
Cleveland 86
New York 89
Golden State 87
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