Phoenix ? Ray Allen climbed out of an awful shooting night with 14 of his 21 points in the fourth quarter and the Seattle SuperSonics had seven players in double figures to beat Phoenix 113-105 in a showdown of division leaders Friday night.
Rashard Lewis scored 23 points, going 4-of-7 from 3-point range, and Antonio Daniels had 20 in the Sonics’ fifth win in a row. Vladimir Radmanovic added 13, Jerome James and Luke Ridnour had 12 apiece, and Reggie Evans had 10 points and 11 rebounds.
Seattle, coming off a home victory over Sacramento on Thursday night, improved to 9-2 against the top six teams in the NBA.
Amare Stoudemire scored 32 points, and Steve Nash had 25 points and 14 assists for the Suns, who lost for the second time in five games but only the 12th time all season. Quentin Richardson added 20 points _ including 6-of-13 3-pointers_ and Shawn Marion 14 points and 10 rebounds.
Allen, 3-for-16 through three quarters, made his first four shots in fourth quarter and was 5-for-8 in the period.
After Stoudemire’s stuff on an assist from Nash cut the lead to 94-92 with 7:20 remaining, Allen sank a 3-pointer and an 18-footer, then Antonio Daniels sank one from 21 feet for a 7-0 run that put Seattle ahead 101-92 with 5:36 to go. Phoenix never got closer than six after that.
The Sonics were without Danny Fortson, suspended for two games for yelling at a referee, throwing a chair and not leaving the court promptly following his ejection during a victory over Sacramento on Thursday night.
Seattle outscored the Suns 11-2 over the last 2:36 of the half for a 55-55 tie at the break. Lewis made consecutive 3-pointers and Radmanovic rattled in a ‘3’ with 29 seconds left to cap the
The surge followed a 13-0 Phoenix run that featured three 3-pointers in a row by Richardson and gave the Suns a 53-44 lead after Nash’s two free throws with 3:09 left in the half.
The Sonics had used a 12-1 surge to go up 38-29 on Jerome James’ inside basket with 10:50 to go in the second quarter.
Seattle was 7-for-16 from 3-point range and Phoenix 7-for-15 in the first half.
Stoudemire and Nash scored 17 apiece in the first half, Lewis and Radmanovic had 13 apiece for Seattle.
Neither team led by more than five points in the third quarter, and the Sonics were up 82-79 entering the fourth.
