Payton, Sonics Ice Lakers

Gary Payton decided to take matters into his own hands.

Payton's 3-point shot with 15.9 seconds remaining capped a 36-point performance Monday, lifting the Seattle SuperSonics to an 82-81 victory over the Los Angeles Lakers.

The win was the fifth straight for the Sonics since they blew a 19-point third-quarter lead in a 110-100 loss to the Lakers at Seattle on Jan. 8.

"Up in Seattle, I tried to pace everybody and get everybody into the game. But today, I decided I've got to stay strong and keep attacking."

Payton's approach worked to perfection.

Ron Harper, who was guarding Payton on the deciding play, failed to get through a screen set by former Laker Ruben Patterson, giving Payton an open look.

"I'll take the blame, I don't have a problem with that," Harper said. "I didn't think he was going to shoot the 3. He shot it, he made it."

Harper also expressed annoyance at some teammates, saying, "I bust my butt every night. If we're going to be a team, everybody needs to lay it on the line."

After Payton's game-winning shot from near the top of the key, Kobe Bryant missed a jumper from the right baseline with about seven seconds left. Robert Horry missed a flying dunk attempt off the rebound, and the ball went out of bounds to Seattle with 1.8 seconds to play.

The Lakers stole the inbound pass, but were unable to get a shot off before time expired.

"I knew it was off," Bryant said of his final shot. "Like the whole game, a little off. I thought we were going to get them. We should have done a better job of guarding people."

Lakers coach Phil Jackson said his team "had all the shots at the end."

"We missed too many opportunities," he said. "It looked like Kobe got fouled at the end (while battling for the ball before it went out of bounds) and there was no call by the referees. They did about as pathetic a job refereeing as we did playing."

Shaquille O'Neal led the Lakers with 30 points, 10 rebounds and six assists. Bryant had 15 points and a career-high 14 rebounds, but made just 6 of 18 shots, including five misses in as many 3-point attempts.

Payton, whose scoring total was two short of his career high and equaled his season best, also had seven assists and six rebounds.

"He's got to be considered an MVP candidate if he keeps playing like that," Sonics coach Paul Westphal said. "I just look around the league and there's Shaq, Grant Hill and Gary. I don't know who's playing better than those three guys."

Brent Barry added 17 points and Patterson scored 15 for Seattle. Vin Baker, averaging 17.4 points, was held to three points and committed eight turnovers, but also had 13 rebounds.

Glen Rice, who had 13 points, made a jumper from the left corner with 2:51 to play that gave the Lakers a 79-78 lead. Payton's foul shot a little over a minute later tied it.

Rice made a free throw with 1:22 left to give the Lakers an 80-79 lead, and O'Neal made another free throw with 30.2 seconds left to make it 81-79 and set the stage for Payton.

The Lakers, whose 32-7 record is the NBA's best, have lost two of three games following a 16-game winning streak.

With Payton leading the way, the Sonics outscored the Lakers 15-2 over the final 4:43 of the third quarter for a 66-62 lead. That came after the Lakers opened the period with a 15-5 spurt for a 60-51 lead largest of the game for either team.

The Sonics led 28-25 after one quarter of play and 46-45 at halftime.

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