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RECAP
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BOX SCORE
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 GAME FLOW
MIAMI (AP) -- With Alonzo Mourning sidelined, the Miami Heat
turned to Jamal Mashburn.
|  | | Jamal Mashburn buried the Sonics with 29 points. |
Mashburn scored 29 points as the Heat ended a six-year drought
against the Seattle SuperSonics with a 101-83 victory Thursday
night.
"We were committed to going to Jamal early and getting him off
to a good start," coach Pat Riley said. "Sometimes he needs to
adjust when teams are double-teaming him. I don't want him to get
down if he's not making shots because he is so valuable to us."
The Heat, who played their third straight game without the
injured Mourning, beat the SuperSonics for the first time since
Feb. 17, 1994. The Sonics had won nine straight games against the
Heat, part of a 20-4 all-time lead in the series.
"We jumped on those guys early and made them play from
behind," said Clarence Weatherspoon, who started in place of
Mourning as the Heat went with a smaller lineup. "We have finally
established a home-court advantage."
With Mourning out with a sore left ankle, the Heat turned to
Mashburn, who was 13-of-20 from the field and added six rebounds as
Miami won its 10th straight home game, third-best in franchise
history.
"We knew going in that they can win without Alonzo," Seattle
coach Paul Westphal said. "I hope our guys were beyond that. They
just beat the Knicks the other night without him."
Tim Hardaway added 18 points and eight assists, and P.J. Brown
scored 14 for Miami. Mark Strickland and Clarence Weatherspoon each
scored 13 points.
Ruben Patterson scored 24 points for Seattle, Vin Baker 23 and
Gary Payton 20.
The Heat jumped out to a 31-13 lead after one quarter as they
made 65 percent of their shots, compared to just 22.7 percent for
the Sonics.
"We got off to a great start," Riley said. "We're comfortable
here, and we're shooting the ball better here at home."
Miami increased its lead to 37-17 in the early stages of the
second, but Seattle cut that in half and closed to 51-41 on
Patterson's 3-pointer at the halftime buzzer.
"We felt great to be down by just 10 points, as badly as we
played and as great as they played," Westphal said.
"We should have attacked the rim more. When we did that, we
were getting back into the game. They made us take too many
perimeter shots, and that let them get into transition. We put
ourselves in a hole right from the start of the game."
The Heat led by 17 points midway through the third, but the
Sonics again responded, using Payton's 12 points to close to 74-66
at the end of the period.
Baker's tip-in pulled Seattle to 76-70, but the Heat answered
with an 11-4 run to open an 87-74 lead with 7:02 left.
Game notes
The Heat placed guard Voshon Lenard on the injured list and
activated Rodney Buford. Lenard, who leads the team in 3-point
field goals (89) and averages 11.9 points, has a lower abdominal
strain. Buford, Miami's second-round pick this year, was placed on
the injured list with right knee tendinitis on Feb. 23. ... Miami's
10-game home winning streak is the fourth-longest in the NBA this
year. ... The Sonics lead the series 20-4. All four losses have
been in Miami. ... The Sonics managed to snap out of its free-throw
shooting slump, connecting on 16-of-20. It was in sharp contrast to
the last two road games, when they missed 23 times from the line
against Charlotte and Orlando. ... Injuries have limited Miami's
starting five to just 18 games together this season.
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ALSO SEE
NBA Scoreboard
Seattle Clubhouse
Miami Clubhouse
RECAPS
Philadelphia 87
Washington 84
Miami 101
Seattle 83
New York 109
Milwaukee 94
Orlando 104
Charlotte 96
Cleveland 114
Chicago 110
New Jersey 103
Dallas 102
Houston 102
Sacramento 99
Minnesota 108
San Antonio 102
Phoenix 118
Indiana 87
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