Sonics Play Super, Beat Jazz 101-93

SALT LAKE CITY - Vin Baker had 28 points and 10 rebounds, and the Seattle SuperSonics held off a late Utah rally for a 101-93 victory over the Jazz on Wednesday night.

Seattle scored the first seven points of the fourth quarter to take a 91-73 lead with 9:45 to play, but the Jazz stormed back with a 14-0 run in less than four minutes. Bryon Russell's 3-pointer cut the Sonics' lead to 91-87 with 5:12 left.

Seattle led 97-93 with 1:24 to play when the Jazz were called for a shot-clock violation. Baker and Gary Payton then made consecutive jumpers to seal the win.

Detlef Schrempf had 19 points for Seattle, and Dale Ellis added 12. The Sonics made eight 3-pointers in the game, including four in the third quarter.

Karl Malone led the Jazz with 27 points and 15 rebounds. The loss snapped Utah's seven-game home winning streak and was just Utah's fourth home loss this season.

In his first game since being left off the Western Conference All-Star team, John Stockton had 14 points and 14 assists. Jeff Hornacek added 14 points for Utah.

Seattle jumped to a 74-59 lead on Hersey Hawkins' 3-pointer with 7:37 left in the third quarter. Utah cut it to seven before the Sonics scored eight points in less than a minute to take an 84-73 lead into the fourth.

The Jazz were down by just four points with 1:30 left when Stockton wildly missed a 3-pointer but grabbed his own rebound. Stockton's shot hadn't hit the rim, and the shot clock expired with 1:24 to play just as Stockton drove the lane for an uncontested layup.

Baker scored 14 points in a 19-3 first-quarter run by Seattle. A 13-4 second-quarter spurt gave the Sonics a 59-51 halftime lead.

Baker had 20 points and seven rebounds in the first half. Payton had just two points to go with three turnovers and four fouls.

Notes: Seattle's 59 first-half points were the most by any Jazz opponent this season. ... Hawkins started his 423rd consecutive game. He holds the NBA's second-longest streak of consecutive starts behind Malone, who started his 509th straight game. ... Utah will visit Seattle for the first time this season on Feb. 14. ... Both Hornacek and Ellis will compete in the 3-point shooting contest during All-Star weekend in New York. ... Utah is just 4-9 against the Pacific Division this season. ... The Sonics are 24-2 when scoring more than 100 points.