Baker hit a basket and was fouled with 45 seconds left in the extra session. But he left with an apparent hand injury and Art Long completed the three-point play to put Seattle ahead, 107-104.
"He may have hyperextended his right thumb," SuperSonics coach Nate McMillan said of Baker, who finished with 18 points and six rebounds. "It looked like it was pretty painful."
After Bob Sura made a basket for the Warriors, Rashard Lewis' follow shot restored the SuperSonics' three-point lead with 13 seconds left.
 Vin Baker was massive in the clutch for the Sonics, and didn't mind doing the little things either. Rocky Widner NBAE/Getty Images |
Rookie Jason Richardson made a driving layup to pull Golden State within 109-108 with eight seconds remaining, but Payton hit a pair of free throws to seal Seattle's 10th consecutive victory over Golden State.
"We have had games where we were up and let other teams back in it when we needed to make big plays down the stretch," McMillan said. "Offensively and defensively, we made the big plays down the stretch tonight. I told our guys back in October that we need to make the plays down the stretch. And tonight, Art Long did that with his free throw."
Lewis collected 24 points and eight rebounds and Payton had 20 points and 12 assists as Seattle posted its 10th consecutive victory over Golden State. The Sonics have not lost to the Warriors since March 19, 1999.
Richardson scored a career-high 24 points on 10-of-14 shooting and grabbed eight rebounds for Golden State, which forced overtime by outscoring Seattle, 26-9, in the fourth quarter. The Warriors overcame a 22-point halftime deficit.
"We've got to realize we can't put ourselves in a hole like that," said Warriors guard Larry Hughes, who scored 24 points. "We can't give up that many points in a quarter in a short period of time and be real about coming back. This was one night that almost ended perfectly for us, but it's tough to come back from that many points down."
The Sonics shot 76 percent in the first half (32-of-42) and scored 44 points in the second quarter, the most in a period by a Warriors' opponent since Dallas scored 46 in the fourth quarter on March 13, 1995.
But Golden State held Seattle under 18 percent in the second half (6-for-34). The Sonics owned a 17-point lead heading into the fourth quarter but managed just nine points in the period, its lowest-scoring quarter of the season.
Antawn Jamison had 17 points, six rebounds and six assists and Danny Fortson contributed 13 points and 17 rebounds as the Warriors dropped to 2-2 under coach Brian Winters.
"You have to be encouraged anytime you're down by 22 and you send the game into overtime. There is no reason at all to be discouraged," Jamison said. "We never gave up, we put ourselves in a difficult hole, but guys stayed focused. We always believed that we had a chance, there was no negativity in the huddles. Coach did a terrific job of keeping us poised and letting us believe that we had a chance."
Winters tried to warn his team about Seattle.
"The Sonics play a different style than most teams," he said. "They do a lot of switching. If you get it in the post, they come and double you quickly. They play side screen roles and they force you down to the corners and try to keep you on one side of the court, and they lull their defense to that side. They did a very good job in the first half and we did a poor job reacting to it.
"I tried to explain that to our team before the game, but until you play against it, you don't see it a lot. It is a different style of NBA defense."
Sura chipped in 10 points and seven rebounds off the bench for Golden State, which shot 45 percent (42-of-93) and was outrebounded Seattle, 54-41.
The Sonics started the second quarter with a 20-9 run to take a 47-33 advantage with 7:28 left. They closed the period with a 16-8 spurt en route to their largest lead.
Warriors center Erick Dampier did not dress due to a hyperextended left knee. Forward Chris Mills suffered a strained neck with 4:46 left in the second quarter and did not return.