Allen’s late 3 beats Spurs
SEATTLE – Ray Allen made a 3-pointer with 5.4 seconds left, and the Seattle SuperSonics beat the San Antonio Spurs 106-102 on Sunday night.
After Allen had his shot blocked out of bounds with 9 seconds left, Seattle inbounded to Johan Petro trailing by two. The center then handed off to Allen and screened Bruce Bowen, giving Allen room to shoot over Tim Duncan.
San Antonio called timeout and inbounded in the front court. Manu Ginobili tried to pass to Duncan, but the ball was knocked away by Petro and over to Rashard Lewis, who was fouled with 1.6 left. Lewis made the first free throw, missed the second, but got the rebound after it was tipped by Allen. He was fouled with 0.3 left and made both attempts.
Allen finished with 33 points and made 13 of 23 shots, including five 3-pointers, as Seattle was 10 for 16 from beyond the arc. Allen had struggled, missing 23 of 33 shots in his last two games, but found his stroke against the suffocating, physical defense of San Antonio’s Bowen.
Luke Ridnour added 19 points and seven assists and Lewis had 16 points for the Sonics.
Duncan led the Spurs with 28 points, rebounding from a season-low six against Portland on Friday. But the Spurs fell into a tie with Dallas for the best record in the Western Conference at 54-16. Ginobili and Tony Parker both finished with 17 points and Parker added 12 assists.
Parker gave the Spurs a 102-100 lead with 35 seconds left on a baseline floater, capping a 9-0 run.
On Seattle’s next possession, Ridnour’s pass was intercepted by Robert Horry, but Horry fell out of bounds before calling timeout, giving Seattle possession with 13 seconds left.
Chris Wilcox scored 14 for Seattle, and Petro had six points and four rebounds in the fourth quarter.
Allen and Bowen continued their long-standing feud, reaching a head midway through the second quarter. Going for a shot along the baseline, Allen leaned in, trying to draw a foul on Bowen.
Instead, Bowen stood his ground and Allen was called for an offensive foul as both collapsed to the floor. On the floor, Bowen gave Allen a short kick to the back with his right foot, prompting Allen to quickly rise and get in Bowen’s face. Allen was held back from Bowen by Robert Swift and Nazi Mohammed.