As soon as Vin Baker made the pass into Wesley Person's arms, he knew another defining moment in his maligned career was about to unfold.

"I knew it was a bad pass right away and I knew I had an angle on him to maybe get the block,'' Baker said. "I figured it was one of those times where I'd either be the hero or the goat. I had to block the shot."

Nobody called him a hero Friday night. But associate head coach Dwane Casey, filling in for Nate McMillan, couldn't find enough superlatives to describe Baker's play, and teammate Gary Payton went so far as to say Baker saved the Sonics' 102-100 victory over an incredibly hot-shooting Cleveland Cavaliers team at KeyArena.

"When Vin plays like that it makes it easier for all of us,'' Payton said. "He's got games like that in him. His confidence is coming back.

"That was one of the best games I've played in in a long time.''

Best? Casey said in 24 years of coaching he's never seen two teams take so many 3-pointers (37) and make so many of the attempts (23). In the end, after watching Baker reject two shots in the final minute and influence another miss by Lamond Murray on a slam dunk, after watching Person and Rashard Lewis each nail 6-of-8 3-pointers, the Sonics eked out the victory only when Payton drilled a 21-foot jumper over Andre Miller with .9 seconds left on the clock.

"I don't think you'll see another NBA game the whole season where both teams have that many attempts and both teams shoot 60-plus percent the way they did tonight," Casey said. "... once they got rolling, we couldn't turn the hydrants off."

Neither could the Cavs, who lost for the eighth time in 10 games and fifth in a row.

They lost only because Payton and Baker shined late, and because Lewis continued to quietly light up the scoreboard. Lewis finished with 27 points, following up his 30-point performance in Minneapolis on Wednesday. Baker had a season-high 32 points, five rebounds and three blocks, while Payton tied a season high with 15 assists, and added 24 points.

None were bigger than Payton's final two.

The Cavs had tied the game at 100 with 7.4 seconds remaining on Murray's 3-pointer over Lewis from the top of the key. The Sonics called timeout and Casey said the final play was to be a pick-and-roll with whoever Person was guarding. It would have been Desmond Mason, but the Cavs cheated on defense, and Payton jab-stepped out to get the ball.

"Andre thought I was going to drive to the basket and draw the foul," Payton said. "I saw (Miller) looking around for help, so as soon as he looked around I pulled up and I nailed the jumper."

The ball hit nothing but net, sending Seattle to its ninth victory in 11 games. It also gives Casey a 1-0 record as head coach. He said McMillan, who is in North Carolina with his ailing mother, will return to the team on Monday.

"I can't wait for Nate to get back,'' Casey said. "I think he would have made many of the same calls I did tonight, but moving over those 12 inches from the assistant's to the head coach's seat is tough.''

Notes - McMillan is expected to resume coaching Tuesday. He's been visiting his mother, Jeanette Tyson, at a hospital in Raleigh, N.C., since leaving the team early Thursday morning. Tyson was hospitalized earlier in the week with high blood pressure and a kidney ailment. Casey said McMillan phoned him Friday and said his mother's condition had stabilized, or improved ...

McMillan had planned to be in North Carolina this weekend prior to his mother's health worsening. His jersey is being retired during halftime of the Duke-North Carolina State game on Sunday. ...

Channel 5 and KONG 6/16 are expanding their coverage. Starting with Wednesday's game at Utah, Sonics games will be available on satellite. "Based on feedback, one of our top priorities when negotiating our television broadcast contract this past summer was to expand our broadcast's reach to more households,'' Sonics president Wally Walker said. ...

When asked if the coaching staff is happy with where the team is after 36 games, Casey said yes and no. "We're disappointed that we didn't win a couple of close games that we should have,'' he said. "The game in Miami and the game here against Miami in particular. We're basically a young team with a good nucleus. We feel if we had won a few of those close ones we'd be up in the 20-wins where we feel we should be.''

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* Reach staff writer Dave Dondoneau at 253-597-8546, or [email protected]

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sonics 102, cavaliers 100

Next: Wednesday, Sonics at Utah, 6 p.m., KONG, 950-AM

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SIDEBAR: Game in Review

Sonics 102, Cavaliers 100

Star of the game - Vin Baker blocked two shots in the final minute and led all scorers with 32 points, also his season high.

KEY STAT - The teams combined to make 23-of-37 3-pointers. Cleveland was 14-for-23, Seattle 9-for-14.

TURNING POINT - Gary Payton's pull-up jumper over Andre Miller with 0.9 seconds remaining to break a tie at 100.

Key observation - Seattle's stars shined bright. Baker and Payton played like all-stars, and the team never let down despite being unable to shake the hot-shooting Cavs.

Quote - "I can't say enough about Vin Baker. Tonight, he gave us 37 minutes, and he was in a war the whole time with two big, excellent centers." - Dwane Casey

Up next - 6 p.m., Wedneday, at Utah.