Sonics' Ray Allen Has Career Night

Ray Allen, Dirk Nowitzki and Kobe Bryant were at their best when their teams needed them the most. <br/><br/>Allen scored 54 points to lead the SuperSonics to a 122-114 overtime win over the Utah Jazz

Saturday, January 13th 2007, 7:03 am

By: News On 6

Ray Allen, Dirk Nowitzki and Kobe Bryant were at their best when their teams needed them the most.

Allen scored 54 points to lead the SuperSonics to a 122-114 overtime win over the Utah Jazz on Friday night. He scored 18 points in the fourth quarter, 15 in the final 5 minutes of regulation, and topped his previous career high of 47 against Charlotte in 2002 while he was with Milwaukee.

Allen also had the second-best total in franchise history to Fred Brown's 58-point outburst against Golden State on March 23, 1974.

``People want to know what the 'zone' is like, and if I could have a tape and show people, this is what it's like,'' Allen said. ``You can't explain it. It just happens.''

He was 17-for-32 from the field, 12-for-12 at the line and grabbed 10 rebounds as Seattle snapped a six-game losing streak.

Nowitzki scored a season-high 43 points, including three free throws in the final 5 seconds of overtime, to lift Dallas to a 115-113 victory over the Indiana Pacers. The Mavericks trailed by double digits in the first half, and six points late in the fourth quarter.

``We've been in a lot of close games, that's what got us to the finals last year,'' Nowitzki said. ``We learned last year how to close big games out, and that's what you've got to do.''

Bryant got his teammates involved in the scoring early and then scored 16 of his 28 points in the final 6:44 to lead the Lakers to a 109-106 victory over visiting Orlando.

``If I started doing that in the first quarter, you'd see doubles coming and zones shifting and all that other stuff. But that didn't happen in the fourth quarter because everybody was a threat,'' Bryant said. ``We had the floor spaced because everybody shot the ball so well in the first 3 1/2 quarters.''

In other NBA games, it was: Philadelphia 110, Milwaukee 97; Atlanta 99, Detroit 93; Toronto 95, Boston 86; Charlotte 126, New York 110; Minnesota 116, Memphis 110; New Orleans 104, Washington 97; Portland 95, Sacramento 87; Houston 90, Denver 86; and Miami 118, Golden State 96.

At Seattle, Allen opened overtime by making a flat-footed 15-footer as the shot clock ticked down, and hit another jumper later to push the Sonics' lead to four.

``Ray's performance was one of the finest most people here tonight have ever seen,'' Seattle coach Bob Hill said.

Carlos Boozer had 32 points and 16 rebounds for Utah.

At Indianapolis, Jason Terry had 30 points and Nowitzki grabbed 12 rebounds to help the Mavericks improve to 16-1 in their last 17 games and an NBA-best 30-8 overall.

Nowitzki's 3 gave Dallas a 108-107 lead with 1:16 to go in overtime, and he made two free throws with 5.1 seconds left to push the Mavs' lead to 114-111. After the Pacers pulled within one, Nowitzki hit one free throw with 2 seconds left to close the scoring.

``Dirk is our MVP,'' Terry said. ``He's been doing it for years, and that performance was no different.''

Jermaine O'Neal had 26 points, and Danny Granger and Stephen Jackson added 22 apiece for the Pacers.

The Lakers beat Orlando for the fifth straight time and 15th in 17 meetings. They barely avoided their first three-game losing streak of the season with a career-high 26 points from Smush Parker.

``We just ran our offense. My teammates did a good job of finding me when I was open and I was able to knock down some jump shots,'' Parker said. ``Once I hit my first basket, it carried me throughout the game both offensively and defensively.''

Dwight Howard had 25 points and 10 rebounds for Orlando, which had won five straight.

Hawks 99, Pistons 93

Joe Johnson scored 34 points and Josh Smith, just back from hernia surgery, hit a 3-pointer with 10.7 seconds left to help Atlanta hold off visiting Detroit.

Richard Hamilton led the Pistons with 32 points.

Bobcats 126, Knicks 110

Emeka Okafor had 20 points and a career-high 10 blocks, Derek Anderson scored 29 points, and Charlotte snapped host New York's three-game winning streak.

Matt Carroll added 23 points for the Bobcats. Stephon Marbury scored 28 points and Eddy Curry added 27 for the Knicks.

76ers 110, Bucks 97

Willie Green scored 30 points and Andre Iguodala had 26 to help host Philadelphia snap a four-game skid.

Andrew Bogut had 20 points and 24 rebounds and Charlie Bell scored 26 points for Milwaukee, which was missing four starters and lost its fifth straight.

Hornets 104, Wizards 97

At Oklahoma City, Desmond Mason scored 22 points to help New Orleans hold off Washington and Gilbert Arenas.

Devin Brown matched his season high with 19 points and added a career-high nine assists as the Hornets won back-to-back games for the first time in nearly two months.

Arenas had 23 points on 5-for-19 shooting for the Wizards.

Raptors 95, Celtics 86

Chris Bosh scored 27 points and T.J. Ford added 19 to lead visiting Toronto, which took command with a 16-6 run to close out the third quarter.

Rajon Rondo's 23 points led the Celtics, losers of three straight and 10 of 12.

Timberwolves 116, Grizzlies 110

Kevin Garnett had 28 points, 11 rebounds and five blocks, Ricky Davis added 27 points and seven assists, and Minnesota weathered host Memphis' late rally for its fifth win in six games.

Mike Miller scored 23 and Pau Gasol finished with 20 for the Grizzlies.

Trail Blazers 95, Kings 87

Zach Randolph scored 23 points, Juan Dixon added 21 and Portland snapped a three-game losing streak by beating Sacramento for the second time in a week.

Kevin Martin had 17 points for the visiting Kings, who had 21 turnovers in losing their fourth straight.

Heat 118, Warriors 96

At Oakland, Calif., Dwyane Wade had 22 points and 10 rebounds as defending champion Miami earned its first three-game winning streak of the season.

Baron Davis had 21 points and 10 rebounds for the Warriors.

Rockets 90, Nuggets 86

Shane Battier scored 12 of his 25 points in the fourth quarter, and visiting Houston won for the eighth time in nine games.

Steve Blake scored 13 points _ all in the second half _ in his Denver debut. Allen Iverson finished with 28 points and Marcus Camby tied his career high with 24 rebounds.