SEATTLE (Ticker) -- Jason Williams shot down the Seattle SuperSonics.
Williams' sixth 3-pointer of the second half with a 10.7 seconds remaining snapped a tie and lifted the Memphis Grizzlies to a landmark 98-97 victory over the SuperSonics, who continued to struggle at home.
After a quiet first half, Williams exploded for 24 of his 28 points after intermission. His 3-pointer from the top of the key over the outstretched arm of 6-6 Brent Barry snapped a 94-94 tie in the waning seconds.
"I just try to do whatever my teammates need me to do and tonight my shots were falling so I just tried to take advantage of it," said Williams, who finished 11-of-18 from the field and 6-of-10 from 3-point range. "This is the first team that didn't try to trap me so they were really going under (the screens) and seemed like they didn't know what they were doing and that gave me open shots."
"Every one of his 3-point shots was a major shot under pressure," Grizzlies coach Hubie Brown said. "Then, at the end, when we ran the clock down, he scored and made good things happen."
Led by Williams, the Grizzlies won for the first time in 16 all-time visits to Seattle.
Williams also drilled a 3-pointer with 1:17 to play, giving the Grizzlies a 94-92 lead. Ronald Murray tied the contest 10 seconds later with a jumper.
But after Williams misfired on a jumper, Murray had his shot blocked by rookie Dahntay Jones, who was making his season debut. Jones' block set the stage for Williams.
"We knew he has 3-point range and we just have to get up and guard him," Sonics coach Nate McMillan said. "He will launch threes from two or three feet behind the 3-point line. We left him open a couple of times and then at the end he hit a big one with pretty good defense."
Murray had another big game with 26 points and Vladimir Radmanovic added 23 for the Sonics, who also have home losses to Eastern Conference doormats Atlanta and Miami.
The contest also featured a confusing ending. After Radmanovic hit a 3-pointer with nine-tenths of a second remaining to pull the Sonics within 98-97, the Grizzlies called timeout.
Shane Battier bounced the inbounds pass and nobody touched until Murray ran it down and heaved up a 55-foot shot that missed after the horn sounded. Officials awarded the ball to the Sonics and, after a timeout, Rashard Lewis' 3-pointer from in front of the Grizzlies' bench failed to hit the rim.
Williams scored the final five points in a 13-4 surge to start the fourth quarter, giving the Grizzlies their first lead of the second half at 84-83.
"Jason is such a talent that he can change the game singlehandedly and when he does that, it gets us going," Battier said.
Battier also had a hand in shutting down Lewis, who came seventh in the league in scoring. Lewis made just 4-of-11 shots and scored just nine points, more than 14 below his average.
"I was just trying to make Rashard work and our defense philiosphy is to pressure the ball and make them hit shots," Battier said.
