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Wednesday, Jan. 26 10:00pm ET
Person's last-second bomb rips Nets | |||||
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RECAP
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BOX SCORE
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 GAME FLOW
SEATTLE (AP) -- The Rifleman hasn't lost his touch. Chuck Person inbounded the ball, got it back and drilled a 3-point shot --_ all in the final 1.7 seconds -- to give the Seattle SuperSonics a 95-92 victory over the New Jersey Nets on Wednesday night. "They should know better than to leave the Rifleman alone," teammate Emanual Davis said. Person got the return pass from Davis and hit the game-winner on his only shot of the game. "It was a beautiful thing. He's got great range, and he's not afraid to let it fly," Sonics coach Paul Westphal said. Vin Baker led the Sonics with 23 points, Shammond Williams had 18 and Gary Payton and Ruben Patterson had 17 each. Kendall Gill tied the game on a 23-foot jumper with 34.9 seconds left to make it 92-92. Davis had put the Sonics up 92-90 on a 3-pointer with 57 seconds left, but he missed with 15 seconds remaining and the Nets grabbed the rebound. Johnny Newman drove, but Patterson blocked his shot and Baker grabbed the rebound, giving Seattle possession with 2.1 seconds left. A deflected inbounds pass then took 0.4 seconds off the clock before the final play. Stephon Marbury scored 24 points, but turned the ball over twice down the stretch -- turnovers that the Sonics converted into five points. Gill finished with 18 points for the Nets. Nets coach Don Casey said he made a mistake that cost his team the game. "I take responsibility for taking Johnny (Newman) too far off of Person and Chuck hit the shot like the designated hitter that he is." Newman was frustrated about the way the Nets let a game they led most of the game get away. "We battled but there are no excuses to lose a game like that. We should have played it different." Payton scored his 17 points on 6-for-22 shooting. He said Person didn't surprise him. "He's done that throughout his career. That's why we got him -- to make shots like that." The Sonics snapped their three-game losing streak. The Nets dropped their fourth straight on the road. Baker scored almost at will when matched up against Jim McIlvaine and had nine points in the fourth quarter. Westphal turned to his younger players with Brent Barry out with a concussion, Payton not shooting well and Horace Grant sidelined with a first-quarter calf injury. Davis started his second game of the season, replacing Barry, and Williams played 27 minutes and scored 18 points. Jelani McCoy and Rashard Lewis also saw extensive playing time.After the Sonics were up 60-54 following a 17-2 run, New Jersey responded with a 10-0 run to retake the lead. Payton's bank shot gave the Sonics a 68-66 lead after three periods. The Nets controlled play in the first half and led by as many as 11 points in the first quarter. Seattle closed to 37-35, but Marbury's three-point play keyed a 5-0 run for a 42-35 lead, Baker took advantage of a big height advantage inside against Jamie Feick and scored the last eight points of the half for Seattle. Keith Van Horn scored 12 of the Nets first 14 points of the game and hit a pair of 3-point baskets. Game notesBackup center Evan Eschmeyer took four shots in fur minutes during the second quarter and all four were blocked. ...The Sonics beat the Nets 100-92 in their first meeting this season on November 15. | ALSO SEE NBA Scoreboard New Jersey Clubhouse Seattle Clubhouse RECAPS Phoenix 93 Philadelphia 87
Seattle 95
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