Sacramento Becomes Payton’s Place

The Seattle SuperSonics showed that the Sacramento Kings aren’t invincible at home.

Gary Payton scored 31 points and Rashard Lewis had 26, and the SuperSonics ended the Kings’ home winning streak at 20 with a 126-116 victory Sunday night at Arco Arena.

For three quarters, the SuperSonics rolled over the Kings, whose only previous home loss came Dec. 2 against Dallas, 120-114, in overtime. The Kings, who have the league’s best home record at 27-2, were chasing the 1985-86 Boston Celtics’ NBA mark of 40-1 at home.

“I guess we don’t have to worry about 40-1 anymore,” King Coach Rick Adelman said.

Rallying from a 25-point, third-quarter deficit, Sacramento pulled within 120-116 on a dunk by Chris Webber with 1:21 left. But Payton responded with a running one-hander off the glass, a layup and two free throws. Payton had 13 assists.

“He’s the man. That’s why he’s an All-Star,” Sacramento guard Bobby Jackson said. “He played well at the end. He took over the game.”

Seattle’s 126 points were a season high and the most points given up by Sacramento this season.

“It was pretty simple,” Payton said. “We just shot the ball real well and it was just one of those nights.”

Webber scored a season-high 39 points and had 11 rebounds.

Dallas 105, Phoenix 92--Steve Nash and Dirk Nowitzki sparked a 21-0 run in the first half for the Mavericks at Phoenix, spoiling the coaching debut of Frank Johnson, who replaced Scott Skiles earlier in the day.

Nowitzki finished with 20 points, Michael Finley scored 19 and Nash had 18. Shawn Marion led the Suns with 27 points and Tony Delk had 26.

Delk started at point guard for the Suns as Johnson benched leading scorer Stephon Marbury. Johnson would not comment on Marbury afterward, and Marbury left without comment.

Indiana 86, Philadelphia 76--Jalen Rose scored 12 of his 17 points in the fourth quarter at Indianapolis, where the 76ers played without Allen Iverson.

Iverson, the league’s leading scorer, sat out because of a sprained right big toe. The 76ers also lost Derrick Coleman, who was ejected midway through the third quarter after getting into a shoving match with Reggie Miller.

Utah 92, New York 89--Karl Malone had 27 points and 16 rebounds, rookie Jarron Collins scored 19 and the Jazz closed with a 16-5 run at Madison Square Garden.

It was Utah’s sixth of nine consecutive road games and its fourth victory in a row. Allan Houston scored 29 for the Knicks, who have lost six of eight.

Milwaukee 91, Toronto 86--Sam Cassell and Ray Allen each had 20 points at Toronto and the Bucks ended a losing streak at three.

Alvin Williams had 24 points, but missed three of four free throws late for the Raptors, who have lost four in a row since the All-Star break.

New Jersey 98, Denver 77--A sore-armed Kenyon Martin had three dunks in a game-deciding third quarter to spark the Nets at East Rutherford, N.J.

Martin, whose bruised right forearm had him questionable until 30 minutes before tip-off, had nine of his 15 points in the quarter.

Memphis 92, Charlotte 78--Shane Battier and Jason Williams each scored 17 points at Charlotte, N.C., and the Grizzlies ended a road losing streak at eight.

The Grizzlies took the lead for good with a 22-7 run to start the fourth quarter.

Minnesota 93, Miami 80--Chauncey Billups scored 23 points and had eight assists, and Wally Szczerbiak had 22 points to lead the Timberwolves at Minneapolis. Minnesota used a tight zone defense with Kevin Garnett pressuring the ballhandlers to force Miami into long-range jump shots.

Atlanta 100, Golden State 94--Shareef Abdur-Rahim scored 26 points and the Hawks survived a late run by the Warriors at Oakland. The Warriors, who trailed by as many as 27 points, set a season high for points in a quarter with 41 in the fourth.