ALLEN IS SEATTLE'S BEST SHAQ INJURES CALF LAKERS FALL SHORT SEATTLE 111, LAKERS 109.Byline: Howard Beck Staff Writer SEATTLE - Gary Payton
n. 1. One who is seemingly indifferent to or unaffected by joy, grief, pleasure, or pain. 2. Stoic A member of an originally Greek school of philosophy, founded by Zeno about 308 pushed it all aside and tried to simply do what he always did best in 12 years in the Pacific Northwest: win. Shaquille O'Neal Shaquille Rashaun O'Neal (pronounced "shak-KEEL") (born March 6, 1972 in Newark, New Jersey), frequently referred to simply as Shaq, is an American professional basketball player, generally regarded as one of the most dominant in the National Basketball Association (NBA). checked out early with a calf injury, and so Payton joined Kobe Bryant Kobe Bean Bryant (born July 23 1978) is an American All-Star shooting guard in the National Basketball Association (NBA) who plays for the Los Angeles Lakers. in a tag-team offense for the Lakers, but they were ultimately outdone out·do tr.v. out·did , out·done , out·do·ing, out·does To do more or better than in performance or action. See Synonyms at excel. by the guy who replaced Payton in last February's controversial trade. Ray Allen Not to be confused with Ray Alan or Allan Ray. Walter Ray Allen (born July 20, 1975) is an American professional basketball player for the NBA's Boston Celtics, for whom he plays shooting guard. He has also played for the Milwaukee Bucks and Seattle SuperSonics. scored 35 points, including the game-winning basket, and the Seattle SuperSonics The Seattle SuperSonics (or simply Sonics) are an American professional basketball team based in Seattle, Washington. They play in the National Basketball Association (NBA). Their mascot's name is Squatch. took a 111-109 victory Friday at KeyArena. Allen, obtained from Milwaukee in the trade that ended Payton's celebrated Sonics career, got loose for a driving layup with 5.8 seconds left to clinch the win. Bryant launched a deep 3-pointer with time running down but missed, and Rashard Lewis Rashard Quovon Lewis (born August 8, 1979 in Pineville, Louisiana) is an American professional basketball player. After playing his first nine seasons for the Seattle SuperSonics, Lewis joined the Orlando Magic having agreed to a 6-year sign-and-trade deal (believed to be worth at grabbed the rebound. Payton, playing his first game here since the trade, finished with a season-high 24 points on 9-of-20 shooting. Bryant scored 32 points, making 11 of 25 shots. O'Neal strained his right calf in the second quarter and never returned. O'Neal, who also battled back spasms this week, finished with six points, five rebounds and four turnovers in 14 minutes. O'Neal missed two games in late November with the same injury. His status for Sunday's game against the Clippers wasn't immediately clear. Horace Grant Horace Junior Grant (born July 4 1965 in Augusta, Georgia) is a retired American basketball player. He attended and played college basketball at Clemson University, before playing professionally in the National Basketball Association (NBA), where he became a 4-time NBA champion. started the second half in O'Neal's place. He finished with four points and six rebounds in 29 minutes. The Lakers trailed by nine points in the fourth quarter, but Bryant and Payton pulled the game back under control in the final six minutes. It was Payton's stated agenda to shun the hype and the emotion of the evening, and he flatly proclaimed he would not try to drop ``50 or 60 points'' on the Sonics as some form of vengeance. But the night did not go as anyone planned. Without O'Neal and Karl Malone Payton scored 11 points in the third quarter - including nine in a row in a two-minute span - and the Lakers briefly had the momentum. Seattle fired back quickly, getting two 3-pointers from Rashard Lewis and another pair from Allen, and took an 86-82 edge into the fourth quarter. The Lakers had lost four of their previous six games at KeyArena and have consistently struggled against the Sonics for the last three years. Payton was a big reason, and then his replacement, Allen, became the problem, but there was a consistent theme throughout. ``They start running screen-roll when Shaq takes his warmups off,'' Lakers coach Phil Jackson
Philip Douglas "Phil" Jackson (born September 17, 1945 in Deer Lodge, Montana) is the current coach of the Los Angeles Lakers, an American professional basketball team. said. ``He doesn't even get on the floor, they're already running screen-rolls. They torture him.'' O'Neal wasn't around long enough to disprove disprove, v to refute or to prove false by affirmative evidence to the contrary. Jackson's critique. He asked out of the game with 5:06 remaining in the first half and went straight to the locker room, accompanied by trainer Gary Vitti and physical therapist Alex McKechnie. The Lakers were leading 42-36 at the time. Two and a half minutes later, the Sonics had the lead. Payton's 12-year run with the Sonics ended because of a sour relationship with new owner Howard Schultz and tensions over a contract extension that never came. The fans have come to embrace Allen but remain fiercely loyal to Payton and showed their love throughout the night. Payton was the first player introduced - by design - and was greeted with a one-minute standing ovation. Standing in front of his courtside court·side n. The area immediately bordering the official court of play, as in tennis or basketball. seat, Schultz rose and clapped along with them. Before tipoff, a short video tribute to Payton was played on the scoreboard. Of course, he wanted no such gestures, and said so, but the Sonics are honoring the 25th anniversary of their last championship and as part of the season-long celebration are running tributes to various moments in franchise history. So Payton's came Friday. Payton was on the court shooting and did not react. A fan yelled, ``Hey, GP, we miss you!'' and several others waved signs: ``We'll always love the Glove'' and ``Welcome home, GP.'' Amid all the warm and fuzzy feelings, Payton walked down to the Sonics bench and embraced Nate McMillan, his longtime former teammate and coach. The two had not spoken, by Payton's choice, since the trade last February. Howard Beck, (818) 713-3613 howard.beck(at)dailynews.com CAPTION(S): 2 photos, 2 boxes Photo: (1 -- color) Lakers guard Gary Payton drives around Sonics guard Ronald Murray in the second quarter Friday. This was Payton's first trip back to Seattle as a member of the Lakers. (2) Sonic guard Ray Allen reacts after a 3-pointer near Lakers' Slava Medvendenko. Elaine Thompson/Associated Press Box: (1) STORY LINES (2) GAME RECAP |
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