Notes: Payton beats the curse of bobblehead night
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Player of the game: Who else on Gary Payton bobblehead night? The Sonics' guard left the Nuggets shaking their heads with 25 points, 12 assists and seven rebounds.
Top reserve: Desmond Mason displayed his usual intensity and tenacious defense, leaping high for dunks while blocking shots against the glass. The difference last night was Mason's best offensive game since bruising his knee last month: 13 points (on 6-for-9 shooting), seven rebounds and two blocks.
Key to the game: The Sonics made up for being embarrassed Friday on the boards against Denver. Last night, Seattle looked like a different team, crashing the glass to outrebound the Nuggets 52-38.
Next: Tomorrow at 11 a.m. vs. the 76ers in Philadelphia. The lines comprising thousands of fans snaked around KeyArena starting as early as 2 p.m. for last night's 7 p.m. game against Denver.
The lure was a chance to get a Gary Payton bobblehead doll. The first 10,000 fans of the sellout crowd received the dolls, which were all gone by 6:25 p.m.
"I hope the fans enjoyed it," Payton said.
But as popular as the dolls have been as a sports marketing tactic, a bizarre, eerie trend has occurred this season in the NBA that seems to place a curse on the people being celebrated.
"I'm worried; I might not show up," Coach Nate McMillan said half-jokingly after being informed of the litany of misfortune that has occurred on a person's bobblehead day. "I think mine is coming out in March. I have time to talk to (the Sonics) about just keeping them (the McMillan dolls)."
Dan Issel wasn't at last night's game because on his bobblehead day, the former Nuggets coach used an ethnic remark cursing a spectator at the Pepsi Center.
Clippers forward Lamar Odom was suspended for his day because of violating the NBA's ban on marijuana.
Michael Finley played only three minutes after pulling a hamstring. It caused the Mavericks guard to end his streak of consecutive games at 490, which was the NBA best at the time.
On Stephon Marbury bobblehead day, the Phoenix guard had one of his worst games of the season: missing 15 of 20 shots in a 102-96 loss to Memphis.
Miami's Brian Grant had his worst game of the season, making one shot while committing five fouls against the Warriors.
"Wow, I did not know that," McMillan said before the game. "Hopefully nothing like that will happen (to Payton)."
Last night, Payton got more applause than usual when the public announcer introduced the point guard, saying: "Show your love for the Bobblehead."
Payton survived the bobblehead curse, finishing with 25 points, 12 assists and seven rebounds, with many spectators shaking the doll after each basket.
"I don't see how the thing is standing up," McMillan said. "It should be falling forward or backward."
McMillan was alluding to the doll's huge head, which is accurate if meant to be symbolic. The one thing that looks authentic is the doll's goatee and toothy grin, which Payton often flashes after scoring. "Nothing looks like me," Payton said. "I'm the only one who's going to look like Gary."
And what about the big head?
"That's a bobble doll," he said. "That's why it bobbles. They need the head to be emphasized a lot."
McMillan said: "You can thump it when he's not playing well. And you can thump mine when I'm not coaching well."