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Allen leads Sonics past Pacers to end slide

Feb 8, 2007 - 4:32 AM INDIANAPOLIS (Ticker) -- The Seattle SuperSonics finally solved their road woes.

Ray Allen scored 33 points and had nine assists to lead the SuperSonics to a 103-102 triumph over the Indiana Pacers, snapping a 15-game road losing streak.

Reserve forward Andre Brown scored Seattle's final five points and converted a three-point play with 54 seconds remaining in the fourth quarter to give the Sonics a 101-100 advantage. It was their first lead since holding a 72-71 edge with 2:19 left in the third quarter.

"Coming off the bench, you always have to be ready to perform," Brown said. "I'm an aggressive guy and I take pride in that. I came in and made some key baskets and if you stay aggressive, things will keep falling for you."

Jamaal Tinsley followed with a jumper on Indiana's next possession to earn a 102-101 lead. Brown was fouled again on a layup with 23 seconds to play but missed the ensuing free throw.

The Pacers had four consecutive chances to win the contest as but Tinsley missed a jumper and Jeff Foster missed a follow shot. Danny Granger grabbed the rebound and put up an awkward layup which was rebounded by Tinsley but he missed a layup as time expired.

"It was the shot I wanted," Tinsley said. "They challenged the shot and I missed it. We had an opportunity to win and we just came up short. This is a game that we have to pull out at home."

Indiana outrebounded Seattle, 53-35, despite playing without All-Star Jermaine O'Neal, who missed the game with swelling in his left knee.

The Pacers missed O'Neal's presence in the paint as they totaled just two blocked shots, a season low. O'Neal averages 3.05 per game.

Chris Wilcox scored 17 points and Mickael Gelabale added 12 for the Sonics, who shot 55 percent (42-of-76) and had 58 points in the paint.

After a tightly contested first half, Troy Murphy nailed four of Indiana's six 3-pointers en route to a 79-72 advantage heading into the fourth quarter.

"They just hung around," Murphy said. "Ray Allen would hit a shot or someone would get an and-one and they just hung around and gave themselves a chance to win. They made the plays at the end."

Tinsley scored 25 points and Murphy added 22 for the Pacers, who shot 40 percent (38-of-96) including 13-of-28 from 3-point range.

Seattle's last road win came against the Los Angeles Clippers on November 22.

"Those guys just decided we're not going to let it happen tonight," Sonics coach Bob Hill said. "At some point, they have to take ownership of the team, they have to take ownership of a quarter, they have to take ownership of the last five minutes or something. I mean, that's what good teams do. Tonight, we were able to do it."

"I hate losing, I hate losing," Allen said. "It seems like so many emotions go through your head and winning makes life a lot better. We've been positions to win in recent games, but just couldn't finish down the stretch."

The SuperSonics have swept the season series from the Pacers twice in the last three seasons.