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Tuesday, Jan. 23 8:00pm ET
Sonics continue mastery over the champs

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SEATTLE (AP) -- Gary Payton has some news for Jerry Buss: He owns the Los Angeles Lakers, too.

Gary Payton
Gary Payton scored 34 points Tuesday and afterward, Shaq and Kobe said the Glove's defense always kills the Lakers.

Payton scored 34 points and the Seattle SuperSonics continued their mastery of the Lakers with a 91-80 victory Tuesday night.

The Sonics ran their record to 3-0 against the Lakers this season, all under coach Nate McMillan, who replaced the fired Paul Westphal on Nov. 27.

"We just attack them," Payton said. "We know we always have to attack them, not let them sit back and do what they do."

Ruben Patterson, who added 19 points, was delighted to beat his former team. He helped hold Kobe Bryant to 21 points on 5-for-19 shooting and wasn't guilty of displaying any false modesty.

"He just couldn't hit any shots because I played great defense," Patterson said. "I know his game. I know what he wants to do."

Shaquille O'Neal led the Lakers with 29 points, but was 5-for-12 from the free-throw line.

The Lakers, especially O'Neal and Bryant, were frustrated in losing to Seattle again.

"It's happened because the Sonics are an excellent defensive team," Bryant said. "And it all starts with Gary."

Said O'Neal: "They've just had more fire and intensity than we have. Gary's always been a great player. He gets all his guys involved."

Payton was 11-for-19 in 43 minutes in his second game back after serving a one-game suspension for getting into a shouting match with McMillan after a loss. He had 30 points in a victory over Sacramento at home Sunday night.

Shaq shapes up
One day after Kobe Bryant challenged his teammates to get in shape, coach Phil Jackson told the Los Angeles Times on Monday that Shaquille O'Neal has started a conditioning program designed to help him lose weight and gain stamina.

O'Neal has surprised Jackson by asking out of games, though early season ankle and Achilles' injuries kept him from practicing all out.

"Shaq is going through a little bit of a thing where he's trying to lose some weight and trying to recondition himself," Jackson said. "I think he's almost taken it to an extreme, where it's limiting the amount of energy he has, in his process of trying to tighten his weight down so he's in the best condition."

Jackson said he would live with the immediate effect if it meant a more active, more dominant O'Neal down the stretch.

"He just wants to get in really good condition," he said. "He started doing some extra aerobics. He hadn't even talked about it, so I may be speaking out of school. But that was what he wanted to do to get himself in the best possible condition. I said, 'That's all right.' The end run is really what you're after as a basketball club."

Payton didn't have any steals, but he was more proud of his team's defense than his 34 points.

"We can't let Kobe and Shaq have 35 or 40 points apiece," Payton said. "So when we beat them, we play good defense on one of them and let the other one have a good game."

The Sonics outrebounded the Lakers 50-40, with Rashard Lewis grabbing 12 rebounds to O'Neal's nine. Patrick Ewing returned to Seattle's lineup after missing his first game of the season because of tendinitis of his left knee and played 22 minutes.

McMillan used 6-foot-10 rookie Olumide Oyedeji for 14 minutes and he managed to contribute six rebounds.

In the fourth quarter, the Sonics got 13 points from Payton, who made 11 free throws in 13 tries.

Patterson had the biggest basket of the quarter, a layup with 3:47 to go to give Seattle an 81-70 lead.

The Sonics held the Lakers, the league's No. 1 offensive team, to 34.6 percent shooting (28-for-81).

Lewis hit his first basket of the game, an 18-footer, and Brent Barry made a 3-pointer in the final 2:12 of the third quarter as the Sonics grabbed a 64-54 lead. Rick Fox of the Lakers hit a 3-pointer with 1:08 on the clock.

The Sonics scored the first seven points of the second quarter, including a 3-pointer by Payton and a layup by Payton, to go in front 32-23. They led 48-41 at halftime, with Payton sinking a 19-footer with 1:29 to go.

In the first quarter, Vin Baker hit a wide-open 20-footer with three seconds left to give Seattle a 25-23 lead. That came after Barry's second 3-pointer of the period for the Sonics on a pass from Baker after Baker grabbed an offensive rebound.

The Sonics play the Lakers for the final time March 11 at the Staples Center.

"They've presented problems for us," Lakers coach Phil Jackson said. "They do some things defensively against us that we're going to have to look at."

Game notes
McMillan is all for keeping Payton instead of trading him. Payton was suspended by McMillan after getting into a shouting match with him after a game. In the aftermath of the suspension, general manager Wally Walker wouldn't rule out the trading of Payton. Walker will get an argument from McMillan if he tries to get rid of Payton, though. "Gary's the top guard in the league," McMillan said before the game. "Why would you want to trade the top guard in the league?" McMillan said Payton wants to finish out his career with the Sonics. "I know he loves Seattle and I know he wants to be the point guard for this organization," McMillan said. Payton is 32, but McMillan says he's still Seattle's go-to player. "For the next year or two, Gary will probably have the ball at the end of the game for us," he said.
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RECAPS
Boston 83
Atlanta 82

Washington 97
Charlotte 95

Orlando 116
Toronto 111

Philadelphia 114
Dallas 98

Milwaukee 105
New York 91

Minnesota 82
Phoenix 73

Seattle 91
LA Lakers 80

Portland 104
Chicago 100

San Antonio 110
Vancouver 77

Denver 105
Houston 100

Utah 100
Golden State 78

Sacramento 130
New Jersey 104

FROM
ATHLETESDIRECT

Kobe Bryant Official Site

Rick Fox Official Site

Mark Madsen Official Site


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