SEATTLE (Ticker) -- Vladimir Radmanovic rescued the Seattle SuperSonics from an embarrassing home loss.
Radmanovic scored nine of his 25 points in the final 3 1/2 minutes as the Sonics rallied for an 88-85 victory over the Washington Wizards, who nearly won despite the lowest-scoring first half in team history.
"We decided we weren't losing," said Seattle guard Ronald Murray, whose team snapped a three-game home losing streak. "We came to the game saying, 'We're not losing.'"
The Sonics were sluggish in the opening 24 minutes but the Wizards were worse, scoring just 24 points to surpass their previous low of 25 on December 22, 1985 against the New York Knicks, and trailed by 18 midway through the third period.
"We couldn't hit shots in the first half," Washington guard Juan Dixon said. "The second half, we came out and we executed and got some good shots. That was the difference, just being out there with a lot of passion."
After after shooting under 30 percent in the first three periods, Washington Wizards made nine of their first 10 shots in the fourth quarter. Dixon's jumper gave the Wizards a 76-71 lead with 6:26 remaining.
But Radmanovic scored eight points in a key 90-second span. He hit a jumper to put Seattle ahead for good at 81-80 with 2 1/2 minutes left, then drilled his fourth 3-pointer of the night with 1:57 remaining.
"We get a 'W' and we almost gave this game away," Seattle coach Nate McMillan said. "We're just not playing smart, playing with no defense. We gave up a 28-point third quarter and a 33-point fourth quarter."
Dixon and Kwame Brown scored 17 points apiece for Washington. Dixon fueled the comeback with 13 points in the final quarter, but missed a potential game-tying 3-pointer with two seconds to go.
Washington suffered a blow when guard Gilbert Arenas had to be helped off the court by his teammates after suffering an apparent groin injury with just over four minutes left. The Wizards were leading, 76-73, at the time.
"He hurt it pretty good and we probably won't have him for the rest of the trip," Wizards coach Eddie Jordan said. "I don't want to misdiagnose it but it's bad. It's bad right now."
Seattle led, 36-24, at the intermission as the teams barely avoided the NBA record for fewest combined points in the first half (57).
"It was a defensive first half," said Murray, who contributed 21 points. "We locked up on defense and they tried to beat us from the outside."
Rashard Lewis added 24 points for the Sonics, who shot 42 percent from the field (34-of-81).
Arenas finished with 15 points for the Wizards, who heated up in the final 18 minutes to shoot just under 39 percent (32-of-83). There were 10 lead changes in a fast-paced fourth quarter.
