clarinews@clarinet.com (01/12/90)
SEATTLE (UPI) -- A trapping defense and the hot-shooting of Dale Ellis finally awoke the Seattle SuperSonics in the fourth quarter Thursday night when theysank the Dallas Mavericks, 98-87. The cold-shooting Sonics, 16-16, trailing during most of the first three quarters, scored the first nine points of the fourth and went on a 26-7 run during a 9 1/2-minute stretch that put the game away. Ellis, who led the Sonics with 29 points, scored 11 during the game-winning stretch. He hit 7 of 10 field goal attempts in the second half, but he and the Sonics couldn't buy a basket in the first half when they shot 35 percent from the field. ``I don't have an explanation for first half,'' Ellis said. ``We had the shots, we just weren't getting them down. The defense got us back in the game. We wanted to pick up the tempo to start the fourth, and it worked.'' Down 64-59 entering the fourth, the Sonics upset the Dallas offense with a half-court trap and got their fast-break moving. They made 11 of 19 field goal attempts in the fourth, and also sank 14 free throws during the last three minutes as the Mavericks tried to get back in the game by fouling. ``In the first half, they were ice cold and we were in control,'' said Dallas Coach Richie Abudato. ``But they came out in the fourth and ran the half-court trap and we couldn't handle it. It was a combination of them playing good defense and us not executing our offense.'' Point guard Derrick Harper said Seattle's double-teams were big and quick. ``We couldn't get the ball out of the double-team and get a good shot,'' Harper said. ``Eighty percent of the time we had only four or five seconds left on the clock and we were getting hurried shots or no shots at all.'' The Mavericks, led by Rolando Blackman's 30 points, dominated the first three quarters. Dallas led 23-21 after one quarter and had their biggest lead of the game at 44-31 with 1:43 left in the half. They led 46-37 at the break. ``To be only nine down at halftime was fortunate,'' said Seattle Coach Bernie Bickerstaff. ``The guys are very uptight. They need to relax.'' With Adrian Dantley scoring 12 of his 22 points in the third quarter, the Mavericks led by as many as 12 points in the period. But the Sonics cut the lead to five points entering the fourth. Xavier McDaniel scored 16 points for the Sonics, who also got 10 assists, 8 rebounds and 8 points from Nate McMillan. Harper added 20 points and James Donaldson had a game-high 19 rebounds for Dallas.