Nets Hammer Ewing's Sonics
Patrick Ewing didn't have a true homecoming Saturday, just something vaguely resembling one. As poorly as he played, it was a good thing this performance didn't come against the Knicks.
Their fans would have booed him again.
Ewing's first pass was a turnover, his first shot hit nothing but glass and his first four free throws were all misses. He ended up with more bad moments than good in his first New York-area appearance since being traded to Seattle as the New Jersey Nets, behind 41 points from Stephon Marbury, beat the sloppy SuperSonics 126-91.
"This is not the way we would have liked to come out or I would have liked to come back," Ewing said. "I didn't have a particularly good game."
Ewing didn't even get all that great of an applause from a crowd of 14,443 at the Meadowlands, which is about six miles and a world away from Madison Square Garden the arena Ewing called home for 15 seasons.
The crowd cheered when Ewing was introduced and buzzed when he got the ball the first time in the low post, but they saved their loudest ovations for the home team and deservedly so.
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"I've never done that since ... well, I did it a lot in high school," Marbury said.
Marbury played only 29 minutes and shot 17-for-26 from the field, including 9-for-11 in the third, to finish one point shy of his career-high of 42. Marbury has scored 30 or more points in five straight games, becoming the first New Jersey player to do so since John Williamson in 1977-78.
"Right now, mst people label him as just a man who goes out for his stats," Payton said. "That's the label on him, but if he keeps playing the way he's playing, he'll be recognized."
Kendall Gill, who made a surprise start after knee tendinitis kept him out of New Jersey's previous game, added 22 points, four steals and three assists.
The Nets scored at will, collecting 67 points in the first half and reaching 100 with 1:16 left in the third. Marbury didn't even play in the fourth.
Ewing had 13 points on 4-for-11 shooting with five rebounds, five turnovers and three blocked shots in 24 minutes. Payton led the Sonics with 22 points but committed nine of the team's 31 turnovers.
It became apparent that Ewing might be in for a long afternoon just a few minutes into the game. On his first touch, he tried to throw a short bounce pass baseball-style and had it picked off by rookie Stephen Jackson. On his next touch, he went to one of his patented moves cutting to his left across the lane as he shot. The ball didn't even hit the rim.
Ewing quickly atoned by hitting an 18-footer on his next touch, but he followed that with another turnover as Gill stole the ball and went in for an uncontested dunk.
Payton said the team has not yet learned how to adapt to having the slow-footed Ewing in the lineup alongside a bunch of younger teammates. A couple of times when Ewing got the ball down low, the Sonics' offensive movement simply stopped.
"I don't know," Payton said. "If y'all have any suggestions put 'em in a hat. I can't suggest how to use Patrick. Patrick has to go up to the coach and do that himself, but he's not that type of guy."
Ewing had a nice spin move on Jim McIlvaine and got away with a goaltending violation against rookie center Soumaila Samake in the second quarter, but things turned sour again in the third. Gill stripped him of the ball, leading to a fast-break layup and three-point play by Marbury for a 72-57 lead.
A missed layup by Ewing turned into another fast break, this one ending with a dunk by Jackson that gave the Nets their first 20-point lead.
Finally, Ewing lofted an inbounds pass toward midcourt that Marbury easily intercepted, leading to a 10-footer by Gill that completed a 12-0 run and made it 84-58.
"I love beating Patrick Ewing," Marbury said. "It's no different playing against him. Seeing him in a different uniform is probably the most interesting thing."
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