NBA Game Summary - Sacramento at Seattle

Seattle, WA (Basketball News) - Ray Allen finished with 28 points and 10 rebounds as the Seattle SuperSonics held off the Sacramento Kings for an 87-82 win in the opening game of their Western Conference quarterfinal series at Key Arena.

Rashard Lewis scored 18 points while Jerome James had 17 points and 15 rebounds for the Sonics, who made their first playoff game in three years a success with the victory. Antonio Daniels netted 12 points in the win.

Peja Stojakovic poured in 24 points and Cuttino Mobley added 22 for the Kings, who will try to even things up when the teams meet in Game 2 of the best-of- seven series Tuesday night. Kenny Thomas had 10 points and eight rebounds in the loss.

Kings guard Mike Bibby finished with just three points on 1-of-16 shooting. He went 0-for-6 from three-point range.

Seattle led by 15 at halftime and went up as many as 21 points at 63-42 on a jumper by Allen with 8:49 left in the third quarter.

However, Sacramento responded with a 22-7 run to close out the period that made it just a six-point contest. A three-point play by Brad Miller, returning from a fractured left leg, capped the surge and pulled the Kings to within 70-64 with 56 seconds left in the third.

Sacramento eventually trimmed its deficit to four at 72-68 on a layup by Stojakovic with 9:35 to play.

But Seattle pushed the lead back up to nine later in the fourth. A pair of free throws by Allen made it an 83-74 contest with 3:30 remaining, but the Kings scored eight straight and pulled to within 83-82 on a three-pointer by Mobley with 42 seconds left.

But James — after dropping a pass in traffic under the basket — managed to sink a hook shot that gave the Sonics an 85-82 lead with 25 seconds to play.

After Mobley and Bibby each missed three-pointers at the other end, Allen was fouled and sealed the victory with a pair of free throws with 8.7 seconds left.

The Sonics shot 37 percent (31-of-85), going 4-of-15 from beyond the arc. Meanwhile, Sacramento shot 39 percent (34-of-88) and went 5-of-24 from three- point range.

Seattle led 30-22 after one quarter of play and went up by 18 at 51-33 on a pair of free throws by Daniels with 3:59 left in the second.

Sacramento then scored seven straight points and pulled to within 51-40 on a three-pointer by Stojakovic with 1:56 left in the period. But the Sonics went back up by 15 on a free throw by Lewis with six seconds left in the quarter, making it a 55-40 game at the half.

Bibby was 0-for-9 with one point in the first half. The Kings shot just 33 percent (16-of-49) as a team over the game’s initial 24 minutes, going 3-of-12 from three-point range.