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Monday, Mar. 26 10:00pm ET
Sonics have won eight of nine

RECAP | BOX SCORE | GAME FLOW

SEATTLE (AP) -- The Seattle SuperSonics' victory over the Cleveland Cavaliers on Monday night looked a lot like their season so far: dismal start, improving middle and a stellar finish.

"There's no quit in us," said Seattle's Vin Baker, who had a career-high seven blocks in the Sonics' 104-86 victory. "We don't know where we're at mathematically for the playoffs or anything. We just know we won't quit."

The Sonics (39-34) have won eight of their last nine games, but they trail both Minnesota and Houston in the race for the eighth and final Western Conference playoff spot.

"We've got nine games to go. We're going to try to win all nine and take a run into the playoffs," said Patrick Ewing, who returned from a strained lower back to score 12 points in 21 minutes.

"We had opportunities earlier to make a run, and we let some games slip away," said Sonics coach Nate McMillan, who has led the team to a 33-25 record since taking over for the fired Paul Westphal on Nov. 27.

"We have some tough games remaining, and it's going to be tough to make it" into the playoffs, McMillan said. "Minnesota is playing well. They're not letting us catch them."

The Sonics play host to the Timberwolves on Wednesday.

Gary Payton led the Sonics with 21 points, Ruben Patterson added 16 and Rashard Lewis had 10 rebounds.

Wesley Person led the Cavaliers with 15 points, while Andre Miller had 14 points and 10 assists.

Seattle beat Cleveland for the 11th consecutive time, dating to 1993, as the Sonics maintained a 20-point lead for much of the fourth quarter.

"In the second half, we came out and just couldn't get anything consistently going, especially on the inside," Cavaliers coach Randy Wittman said. "They came out and really got after us physically a little bit, and I don't think we responded to that well."

The Sonics committed eight turnovers in the first quarter. On one fast break, the ordinarily sharp-passing Payton zipped the ball to a wide-open official with no teammates standing within 10 feet.

Seattle trailed by seven going into the second, but used a 16-2 run to pull ahead as Vin Baker blocked four shots.

"Vin came in and made some huge defensive plays, not just the blocks, but he took some charges, too," said the Sonics' Emanual Davis.

"Defensively, we were able to take them out and eventually take over this game," McMillan said.

"The second quarter killed us tonight," Cleveland's Andre Miller said. "They made big plays and got a lot of easy baskets."

Seattle shot 15-of-23, or 65 percent, from the field in the second quarter, including 3-for-3 from 3-point range.

Seattle led 56-48 at the half.

Payton had 17 points in the first half, and Person scored 11 and Miller 10 for the Cavaliers.

Game notes
In the teams' only other meeting this season, March 1 in Cleveland, the Sonics won in overtime 101-99. Seattle came in leading the all-time series with the Cavaliers 47-30. Cleveland has not won at Seattle since March 5, 1991. ... The Cavaliers were without guard-forward Jimmy Jackson, who was placed on the injured list earlier Monday earlier Monday because of muscle inflammation on the sole of his left foot. Jackson has averaged 10.3 points since he was acquired Jan. 2 in a trade with Atlanta.

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RECAPS
Philadelphia 90
Milwaukee 78

Denver 109
Chicago 104

Phoenix 104
LA Lakers 83

Dallas 98
Utah 90

Portland 104
LA Clippers 96

Seattle 104
Cleveland 86

New York 89
Golden State 87


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