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Tuesday, Dec. 12 10:00pm ET
Ankle still bothering Hill

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SEATTLE (AP) -- Grant Hill is back, but he's not the same Hill who was a five-time All-Star for the Detroit Pistons.

With Gary Payton scoring 21 points and Ruben Patterson adding 18, the Seattle SuperSonics beat Hill and the Orlando Magic 97-92 Tuesday night.

Hill returned to the Magic lineup Monday night in a defeat to the Clippers in Los Angeles after a 17-game absence. He finished with nine points and eight assists before leaving the game Tuesday night with 1:39 to go and Seattle ahead 92-87.

"I thought Grant struggled a little bit in the second half running," Orlando coach Doc Rivers said. "That's why I took him out toward the end."

Hill had surgery on his left ankle in April. He had 19 points against the Clippers and played 39 minutes against the Sonics.

"In the first half, he looked great," Rivers said. "In the second half, his ankle got sore and we really were just using him as a decoy for the most part."

Hill admitted after the game he was discouraged.

"My ankle felt good in the first quarter, but as we got into the third and fourth quarters, it got sore," he said. "It was hurting a lot and I was a liability out there for our ballclub."

He said he told Rivers to pull him out of the game.

"That's the first time I've ever done that in a regular season game," he said. "It's frustrating to say the least."

Seattle's players were sympathetic with Hill's plight.

"He's still not the same," Patterson said. "You can see his ankle is still bothering him. He's been out for a long time. But once he gets his ankle back to 100 percent, he'll be back to the old Grant."

The Sonics, who had dropped two consecutive home games, yielded 58 points in the first half and 34 in the second.

"We just played more aggressive defense," Seattle's Rashard Lewis said. "We need to play defense like that more often."

The Sonics limited the Magic to 13-for-39 shooting in the second half.

"We needed to play better defense in the second half," Seattle's Vin Baker said. "We've been talking all week that we need to hold our home serve."

The Sonics got two baskets from Payton in the final three minutes.

Payton went around Tracy McGrady and scored on a layup with 2:38 remaining to give the Sonics a 90-87 lead. He sank a 10-footer with 58.9 seconds to go to put Seattle ahead 94-87. Payton also hit a 3-pointer in the final quarter.

Darrell Armstrong led the Magic with a season-high 25 points, while McGrady scored 20.

Ahead 76-75 after three quarters, the Sonics scored the first seven points of the final period for an 83-75 lead.

Brent Barry hit a 3-pointer, Patterson made two free throws and Vin Baker added a layup for Seattle.

Baker gave Seattle its 76-75 lead when he took a pass from Barry and scored a fastbreak layup with 1:28 to go in the third quarter, the final points of the period.

The Sonics held the Magic to Armstrong's free throw in the final 3:48 of the third, outscoring them 8-1.

The Magic led 58-53 at halftime after ending the opening quarter with 13 unanswered points and getting a 3-pointer from rookie Mike Miller to open the second period.

Trailing 21-11, Orlando got three baskets and a free throw from Armstrong in the final 3:29 of the second quarter. Hill opened the 13-0 run by retrieving his own miss and scoring on a layup.

Game notes
After missing two games because of a sprained ankle, guard Emanual Davis returned to the starting lineup for the Sonics. He took the place of Patterson. ... The Sonics outrebounded Orlando 52-37, with Jelani McCoy leading the way with 13. ... In Orlando's next game, the Magic will play Friday night in Portland.
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RECAPS
Toronto 104
Indiana 90

Cleveland 92
Dallas 87

New Jersey 116
Minnesota 94

Atlanta 107
Sacramento 99

Miami 96
Denver 85

Seattle 97
Orlando 92

Portland 101
Golden State 93

Milwaukee 109
LA Lakers 105

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