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  Sunday, Jan. 23 1:00pm ET
Payton: 'A good team can beat us any night'
 
  RECAP | BOX SCORE | GAME FLOW

TORONTO (AP) -- While Vince Carter looked on from the sideline, the Seattle SuperSonics did most of their watching on the court.

With Carter forced to sit because of foul trouble, the Toronto Raptors ran all over the SuperSonics with a 94-77 victory Sunday that snapped a three-game losing streak.

Gary Payton and Doug Christie
Gary Payton, left, picks up a foul as he tries to swipe the ball from Doug Christie.
"There's a couple guys on this team that aren't coming out to perform," said Seattle guard Gary Payton, who had a game-high 29 points. "We need to do something about this. We beat three or four good teams and then we revert to this."

Carter, who scored 13 points in 25 minutes, got into third-quarter foul trouble and didn't play in the fourth for Toronto, which had lost five straight to Seattle.

"We got something from everybody," Carter said. "I enjoyed it actually to be a cheerleader."

Tracy McGrady and Antonio Davis each had 17 points and 11 rebounds for Toronto. Kevin Willis also had a double-double with 12 points and 12 rebounds as the Raptors outrebounded the Sonics 53-34.

"The guys down low got to play ball," Payton said. "Their guys would come in for a layup and we would olé them. The starting five is ridiculous. ... We play soft all around. A good team can beat us any night."

Vin Baker, with 11 points, was the only other Sonics player to hit double figures. Payton led the team with eight rebounds. Forwards Baker, Ruben Patterson and Horace Grant combined for just 13 rebounds.

"Guys should look in the mirror," said Grant, who had eight points. "If only two or three guys work hard then we're defeating the purpose."

The Raptors had a well-balanced attack without Carter with six players scoring in double figures. Charles Oakley had 15 points on 7-of-9 shooting and Doug Christie added 10.

The Sonics, who had a seven-game winning streak snapped on Friday in an embarrassing loss in Boston, shot only 40 percent from the field and matched their season low for points.

"We've played two sluggish games in a row," Seattle coach Paul Westphal said. "There were 44 shots we missed and we managed only three offensive rebounds."

The Raptors have also been playing poorly of late, but played their best game in a couple weeks.

"We lost a couple games we should have won," McGrady said. "We really needed this win. Everybody played well. We made the extra pass when a guy was open and that's why we won."

Seattle narrowed the gap to seven with 7:10 left on a pair of 3-pointers by Payton and Brent Barry before Toronto pulled away.

Willis capped off a strong first half for the Raptors when he stripped the ball from Baker and rumbled down the court for a dunk and a 56-43 lead.

Toronto led by as many as 17 points early in the third quarter on Christie's two free throws, but Payton had a pair of baskets in the last minute of the quarter to cut the deficit to nine.

"Regardless of (Seattle) playing bad, we needed a win," Raptors coach Butch Carter said. "I think my guys were a little mad. The last words I heard from them as they left the locker room were, 'We've got to have this game.'"

Notes
Carter missed part of the first quarter due to tightness in his left hamstring. ... Seattle hasn't played at Toronto since Nov. 6, 1997. ... The Sonics hold a 5-2 overall series advantage. ... The Sonics and Raptors are the only teams to have beaten all four divisional leaders. ... The Sonics complete their four-game road trip on Monday at New York.

 


ALSO SEE
NBA Scoreboard

Seattle Clubhouse

Toronto Clubhouse


Carter is a superstar in progress

NBA West: Best guard in game


RECAPS
Toronto 94
Seattle 77

Dallas 99
Detroit 91

Houston 101
Miami 88

Minnesota 99
Golden State 81

Orlando 102
LA Clippers 89