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Wednesday, Dec. 13 10:00pm ET
Sonics reach break-even point

RECAP | BOX SCORE | GAME FLOW

VANCOUVER, British Columbia (AP) -- The Seattle SuperSonics are headed in the right direction after a tumultuous six weeks.

The Sonics, who have overcome a lackluster start and a coaching change, weathered a furious comeback by the Vancouver Grizzlies Wednesday night en route to a 94-93 victory.

The victory gave Seattle a .500 record for just the second time this season and the first time since Nov. 1.

"It was tough to get here," said Seattle coach Nate McMillan after watching Vancouver miss three hots in the final five seconds. "But this was gut-check time. I saw a lot of guys showing a lot of heart out there."

It was the sixth win in nine games for the Sonics since McMillan replaced Paul Westphal as coach on Nov. 27. The Sonics also won back-to-back games for the first time this season. Seattle beat Orlando 97-92 on Tuesday.

The Grizzlies embarrassed the Sonics 94-88 in the opening game of the season, and the Sonics had dropped three games under. 500 when Westphal was fired.

"Hopefully, we can build on this," said Seattle center Patrick Ewing. "Our goal is to play with the elite in this league."

Seattle relied on defense to survive Vancouver's last three possessions. The key defensive play was a block by Emanual Davis with 1.9 seconds remaining.

Gary Payton led the Sonics with 17 points, but was slowed in the second half after taking a knee to his left thigh on Vancouver's final possession of the first half.

"I wasn't sure if Gary was going to come back out," said Davis. "We got together and said 'Hey, our leader is down, everybody has to step up, mostly defensively.' I think we did that."

The Grizzlies, who were the subject of intense criticism in Vancouver newspapers following a lackluster 82-75 loss to Houston on Monday, trailed 42-26 midway through the second period.

Vancouver recovered in the second half and assumed an 83-82 lead with 9:44 to play. However, the Grizzlies were unable to close out the Sonics.

Sandwiched between Dickerson's miss, Bryant Reeves and Shareef Abdur-Rahim each had good looks, but failed to convert.

Abdur-Rahim, who missed the second of two foul shots after a Seattle timeout with 22.3 seconds left, was limited to 14 points. Mike Bibby led Vancouver with 17 points.

"The guys played their hearts out," Vancouver coach Sidney Lowe said. "That's the kind of effort we expect."

Game notes
The game marked the fifth straight time this season that Vancouver lost to an opponent which had played the night previous. The Sonics were 97-92 winners over Orlando in Seattle on Tuesday. ... Heading into the game, Vancouver was 1-8 in the last nine games in which it had pulled down fewer than 40 rebounds.
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RECAPS
Chicago 104
Boston 86

Indiana 97
Dallas 92

Philadelphia 102
Washington 82

Charlotte 101
Sacramento 90

Detroit 92
Atlanta 69

Phoenix 103
San Antonio 93

Milwaukee 111
Utah 102

Seattle 94
Vancouver 93

Miami 94
LA Clippers 88

Portland 96
LA Lakers 86

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