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Payton moved into ninth-place on the career assists list, adding nine more to his total Monday night as the Seattle SuperSonics defeated the Cleveland Cavaliers 111-98.

"Just another game," Payton said. "We needed to execute to win and we did."

Payton, in his 13th season, surpassed Terry Porter on the list when he fed Desmond Mason for a layup with 5:38 left in the third quarter to put Seattle ahead 76-58.

Payton has 7,164 assists for his career and is averaging a league-leading 9.5 per game this season. He needs 48 more to move past Lenny Wilkens into eighth place.

"He proved himself to the fullest," said Cleveland's Darius Miles, who made his first start at point guard in an attempt to contain Payton. "He is a leader and so calm. You never get him scared or hyped or anything. We made a run, he came back in and changed the whole game around."

The Carlos Boozer Archive

"Cleveland went to a zone and we started just putting up shots," he said. "It was my job to settle us down, penetrate and get them out of the zone."

Former Juneau-Douglas High School basketball star Carlos Boozer, a rookie power forward for Cleveland, made his seventh start of the season and scored 16 points and grabbed seven rebounds. Boozer also dished out three assists and had a steal.

Boozer, whose .558 field-goal percentage would rank third in the NBA if he had a few more shot attempts, was involved in the game's one flareup. Seattle's Vladimir Radmanovic was ejected with 24.5 seconds left in the game for punching Boozer in what he said was retaliation for an errant elbow.

"He was elbowing me," Radmanovic said. "I took 10 elbows from him and I didn't say anything. I wouldn't hit him without reason."

Suns 87, Magic 84

In Phoenix, Penny Hardaway fell two assists shy of a triple-double and rookie Amare Stoudemire had two late powerhouse dunks as the Phoenix Suns won their fourth in a row.

The Magic were without Tracy McGrady (bruised back), the NBA's scoring leader at 30.1 points per game, and Mike Miller (strep throat). Because it was missing key players, Orlando played a zone defense the entire game, which some players thought was the first time that had ever happened in an NBA game.

Clippers 91, Spurs 79

At Los Angeles, Michael Olowokandi had 17 points and 18 rebounds as the Clippers ended an eight-game home losing streak to San Antonio.

Los Angeles shot 52.3 percent against a defense that entered the game with the lowest field-goal percentage by opponents (40.7).

At Miami, Steve Francis forced overtime with a buzzer-beating 3-pointer, then came up with a key loose ball.

With the Rockets leading 101-100, Miami's Eddie Jones lost possession with the clock winding down, and Francis came up with the ball. Eddie Griffin hit a pair of free throws with 9 seconds left to push Houston's lead to 103-100.

Grizzlies 104, Warriors 91

At Memphis, Tenn., Wesley Person scored 11 of his 13 points in the fourth quarter as Memphis won for the fifth time in six games.

Person shot 4-of-6 in the fourth, including 3-of-5 from 3-point range, after starting 0-for-8.

76ers 93, Nuggets 71

At Philadelphia, Allen Iverson had 23 points as the 76ers snapped a five-game losing streak and sent Denver to its fifth straight loss.

Denver scored just 22 points in the first half for the second time this season.

Bulls 94, Celtics 83

At Chicago, Donyell Marshall had 13 rebounds and 20 points, including a key 3-pointer late in the fourth quarter.

Jalen Rose led the Bulls with 24, and Marcus Fizer had a big night off the bench, scoring 20 and tying his career high with 17 rebounds. It was the fourth win in five games for Chicago.