This Day in 2000: Glen Rice Forces OT, Lakers Edge SuperSonics 106-103
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LOS ANGELES — Glen Rice buried a corner jumper with 1.2 seconds left in regulation, then added two free throws in overtime to lift the Los Angeles Lakers to a 106-103 win over the Seattle SuperSonics on April 10, 2000, at Staples Center.
The Lakers, 64-13 and already assured of the NBA’s best record, played without Shaquille O’Neal, who missed his second straight game. Head coach Phil Jackson started Ron Harper, Kobe Bryant, Rice, A.C. Green and John Salley against a Seattle lineup of Gary Payton, Brent Barry, Ruben Patterson, Vin Baker and Horace Grant.
An announced crowd of 18,997 watched the teams trade leads through three quarters before Los Angeles used a 14-point third-period advantage to seize control. Seattle answered in the fourth, taking a 94-92 edge on free throws with under a minute remaining. After a timeout, Harper inbounded to Rice, whose contested baseline jumper beat the horn and sent the game to overtime.
Rice finished with 28 points, nine rebounds and three assists, going 0-for-0 from three-point range but scoring repeatedly on drives and cuts. Bryant shouldered much of the offensive load as well; he and Rice combined for 48 of Los Angeles’s 95 field-goal attempts.
In the extra session, Rice’s two free throws put the Lakers ahead for good. A Shammond Williams three-pointer pulled Seattle within one, but Green leaked out for a breakaway dunk off the ensuing inbounds pass, sealing the three-point margin.
Williams paced the SuperSonics with 28 points in 24 minutes, hitting 5-of-8 from beyond the arc. Los Angeles limited four-time All-Star Baker to three points on 1-of-8 shooting before he fouled out.
The victory served as a late-season tune-up for a Lakers team that would go on to capture the 2000 NBA championship.
Source: Lakers Nation
