SuperSonics Stop Robinson, Spurs

Vin Baker scored 22 points and Gary Payton had 17 points and 14 assists Friday night as the SuperSonics held San Antonio to a season-low point total in a 94-74 victory over the Spurs at Seattle.

Seattle held a 36-16 lead after one quarter and the Spurs got no closer than 17 the rest of the way.

David Robinson, the NBA’s leading scorer, was held to nine points on 4-for-12 shooting. He sat out the final 16 minutes of the game and failed to score in double figures for only the ninth time in 574 career games.

Monty Williams led San Antonio with 13 points and Cory Alexander had 10.

Hersey Hawkins scored 18 points and Detlef Schrempf had 16 for the SuperSonics. Coach George Karl was ejected in the second quarter after picking up two technical fouls within a few seconds of each other.

Vancouver 99, Denver 96--Shareef Abdur-Rahim scored 28 points and the host Grizzlies rallied to avoid becoming the first team to lose to the Nuggets this season.

The Nuggets, who have yet to win under rookie Coach Bill Hanzlik, have lost a franchise record 10 consecutive games to start the season. They remain the NBA’s only winless team.

Boston 101, New Jersey 93--The Celtics avenged a loss to the Nets that ended their four-game winning streak, beating them behind 24 points and 12 rebounds from Antoine Walker at Boston.

Tyus Edney and Greg Minor came off the bench to each score 12 points and Ron Mercer, another substitute, added 11 for Boston, which didn’t win its sixth game last season until Dec. 30 when it already had 21 losses en route to a 15-67 record.

“We’re not looking at it record-wise,” Dee Brown said. “We’re just looking at progressing every day.”

Cleveland 103, Minnesota 80--Wesley Person scored 22 points, Shawn Kemp had 19 and the Cavaliers dealt the Timberwolves their third consecutive home loss.

Fans at Target Center in Minneapolis booed the home team, whose two previous home losses were at least competitive--an overtime defeat against Washington and a loss at the buzzer to San Antonio.

“If I was in the stands, I’d be leaving too,” said Minnesota Coach Flip Saunders, who guided the Timberwolves to their first playoff appearance last season. “They saw us play sloppy, and they gave it to us. If there was a hole in the floor, I would have crawled into it.”

Charlotte 119, Miami 102--Charlotte gained its first comeback victory of the season as Glen Rice powered a fourth-quarter surge that lifted the Hornets past the visiting Heat.

Rice, held to five points in the first half, finished with 26, including 13 in the last 6:15 as the Hornets improved to 7-3, the best start in franchise history.

All six of Charlotte’s previous victories had come after the Hornets built leads after three quarters.

New York 104, Washington 82--Larry Johnson scored 23 points and the visiting Knicks used a big second quarter to hand the Wizards their fourth consecutive loss. Patrick Ewing had 14 points and 10 rebounds for the Knicks, who have won six in a row and 21 of 22 against Washington.