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RECAP
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BOX SCORE
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GAME FLOW
PHOENIX (AP) – There is no rest for Jason Kidd in the final week
of the season.
|  | | Jason Kidd sheds Patrick Ewing in the third quarter Friday. |
Kidd sat out only the last 39 seconds of the Suns' 109-100
victory over the Seattle SuperSonics on Friday night. Before
leaving the game, Kidd was everywhere on the court, finishing with
30 points, 17 assists and nine rebounds.
In the Suns' previous game against Dallas, Kidd played all but
eight seconds. That's 47 seconds of rest in two games.
"I do look for opportunities to rest him," coach Scott Skiles
said. "But this time of year, all the top players are playing big
minutes. He knows he can rest in the summer."
Kidd said he doesn't mind the all the minutes.
"I feel fine," he said.
Shawn Marion added 20 points and 13 rebounds, and Cliff Robinson
also scored 20 for Phoenix, which ran its home winning streak to
seven games.
Patrick Ewing scored a season-high 21 for the battered Sonics,
who had three players -- Vin Baker, Ruben Patterson and Jelani McCoy
-- leave the game with injuries.
Rashard Lewis scored 27 to lead Seattle. Gary Payton added 21.
Tony Delk added 16 points and Rodney Rogers 12 for the Suns.
Kidd was 4-for-8 from 3-point range and had four steals.
"Jason's playing good ball. Everybody's playing good ball,"
Marion said. "We've jelled out there. We had everything going our
way. Everybody was hitting the open man. Everybody was knocking
down their shots."
Payton shrugged off Kidd's performance.
"He's just playing basketball," Payton said. "That's nothing
that I haven't seen before."
With Portland's home loss to Houston, Phoenix pulled within a
half-game of the Trail Blazers for the No. 6 spot and within a game
of Dallas for the No. 5 playoff position in the Western Conference.
"Two through seven, everything's still up for grabs," Skiles
said.
Seattle coach Nate McMillan said injuries happen when teams
don't play hard.
"I don't think we came out wanting to win the game," McMillan
said.
Payton said the Sonics need to take a close look at their roster
in the off-season.
"We've got to match up with the big dogs now," Payton said.
"A lot of these teams above us have got players. We've got to
think about should we do something. Is this team good enough to
beat these other squads?"
Phoenix took the lead for good late in the first quarter but
never led by more than 12.
Seattle cut its deficit to one point in the third and two in the
fourth.
Brent Barry's 20-footer capped an 11-3 run by the Sonics that
sliced the lead to 85-83 with 6:57 to go. Robinson and Kidd each
sank 3-pointers and Rogers scored four in an 11-3 surge that
boosted it to 96-85 with 4 1/2 minutes remaining. Seattle never got
closer than six after that.
Robinson's 3-pointer put Phoenix up 37-25 with 10:27 to play in
the first half. But the Sonics stayed close.
Delk's 3-pointer 41 seconds before halftime gave the Suns a
55-48 lead. Desmond Mason's layup cut the lead to 55-50, then Kidd
mistakenly threw the ball to Payton, his teammate on the U.S.
Olympic team.
Payton's uncontested layup at the halftime buzzer made it 55-52.
"I told him I hoped I got an assist on that," Kidd said. "I
hope people realize we did play together the last two summers. He
was open."
Kidd had 13 points, nine assists and seven rebounds in the first
half.
Seattle cut it to 65-64 on two free throws by Shammond Williams
with 6:54 remaining.
Kidd's two free throws capped a 7-0 spurt that gave the Suns an
80-70 lead with 1:31 left in the third quarter.
Game notes
Patterson sprained his left ankle with 2:28 left in the
second quarter, Baker played only five minutes because of a
sprained left knee, and McCoy left with an injured left ankle when
Ewing fell on him with 4:51 left in the third quarter. ... Phoenix
center Jake Tsakalidis did not play because of a sore left foot.
... The Suns won the season series with Seattle 3-1. ... Kidd came
within one point of a triple-double in the Suns' previous game
against Dallas. ... The game was Phoenix's eighth sellout of the
season.
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ALSO SEE
NBA Scoreboard
Seattle Clubhouse
Phoenix Clubhouse
Suns' Hardaway wants to test knee in Saturday practice
RECAPS
Washington 113
Orlando 110
Cleveland 97
New Jersey 91
New York 101
Atlanta 65
Indiana 113
Boston 108
Toronto 94
Miami 82
Utah 94
Chicago 83
Dallas 101
Sacramento 97
Denver 108
Golden State 92
Phoenix 109
Seattle 100
Houston 109
Portland 103
LA Clippers 111
Minnesota 105
AUDIO/VIDEO
 Jason Kidd goes the length of the floor for an easy layup.
avi: 482 k
RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN | T1
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