SACRAMENTO, Calif. (Ticker) -- Gary Payton brought the Sacramento Kings' home winning streak to a screeching halt.

Payton had 31 points and 13 assists and made a pair of key baskets down the stretch as the Seattle Sonics held on for a 126-116 over the Kings, who had their run at Arco Arena stopped at 20 games.

Payton ran the offense to perfection in the first half, when the Sonics shot 61.5 percent (32-of-52) from the field, scored 73 points and raced to a 23-point lead, turning the noisiest building in the NBA into a virtual library.

NBA TV highlights from Sonics-Kings: 56k | 300k Rashard Lewis and the Sonics were not intimidated by ARCO. Tom Hauck NBAE/Getty Images

"We were hot," Payton said. "We were giving them one shot, and then coming down and sticking jump shots."

"They were on fire. We were awful," Kings coach Rick Adelman said. "We had no spark, we had no fight. They beat us to the offensive boards, they beat us to the basket, and we took long shots."

The league-leading Kings expectedly stormed back in the second half and pulled within 120-116 with 1:21 remaining on a follow dunk by Chris Webber, who had a season-high 39 points and 11 rebounds.

The Sonics called timeout and went to Payton, who spun away from Hedo Turkoglu and lofted a lefthanded running banker over Webber with 1:06 to go.

Sacramento's Bobby Jackson missed a layup and Payton drove past Turkoglu for the clinching layup with 33 seconds left.

"We got a big lead, they had a big comeback in the third and fourth quarter, and we just maintained," Payton said.

Rashard Lewis scored 26 points for Seattle, which exploded for 47 points in the second quarter, shot 55 percent (50-of-91) overall and became the first team to beat Sacramento twice this season.

"I'm very proud of them," Sonics coach Nate McMillan said. "Sacramento is the best team in the league ... For us to come into this building, they've had a lot of success here, coming off a back-to-back game, and to beat the top team and play solid."

Peja Stojakovic scored 20 points and Doug Christie added 19 for the Kings, who fell to 27-2 at home. Sacramento's only other home loss was a 120-114 overtime setback to Dallas on December 2.

"This was a lesson well-learned," Adelman said. "We can't expect to walk out of here with a win just because we are at ARCO."

"They gave us a good old-fashioned one," Christie admitted. "That was probably what we needed about this time in the season."

The Kings used a 2-1-2 trap to fuel a 13-2 run that got them back in it late in the third quarter. But they still trailed, 102-83, before Christie scored six points in an 8-0 burst that cut the deficit to 11 points with 10:25 remaining.

Desmond Mason's three-point play stemmed the tide, but the Kings charged again. Christie's two free throws made it 109-101 with 6:43 left.

Sacramento still was within nine points when Payton drilled a 3-pointer with 3 1/2 minutes to go. Webber's tip-in capped a 6-0 run that made it 118-112 with 2:16 left.

"You can't play 12 minutes of good basketball against a team like that with a point guard like Gary Payton," Christie said.

"It was hard for us to come back," Jackson said. "Our legs were tired and we just didn't make our shots."

Brent Barry scored 18 points and Mason added 15 for the Sonics, who have won seven of their last 10 road games.

"They came back and made it a ballgame, but we kept our composure and got the win," Lewis said.

Mike Bibby had 10 points and 10 assists for the Kings, who shot 43.5 percent (37-of-85).

Seattle opened a 26-23 lead after one quarter and took off in the second period. Barry and Lewis scored 11 points apiece and the Sonics made a remarkable 19-of-24 shots, opening a 73-50 advantage.

The 47 second-quarter points were an ARCO Arena record.