CLEVELAND, Feb. 26 (Ticker) -- This time, Gary Payton did not wait until the last second to beat the Cleveland Cavaliers.

Payton scored 25 points and the Seattle SuperSonics never trailed en route to their 14th straight victory over the Cavaliers, 109-89.

"I'm the only guy who's been around for all 14 wins over Cleveland," said Payton, elder statesman on the young team. "A lot of the guys are new and they don't remember."

Many of Payton's teammates were not even aware of the streak.

"I hadn't heard about the streak," guard Desmond Mason said. "This is only my second time in Cleveland. It's new to me but it feels good."

NBA TV highlights from Sonics-Cavs: 56k | 300k Gary Payton excuses himself from Andre Miller here, and dominated their matchup in the game. David Liam Kyle/NBAE/Getty Images

"I never knew about the streak," forward Rashard Lewis said. "I've only been in the league three years."

On January 11, Payton made a 20-footer with nine-tenths of a second remaining, giving Seattle a 102-100 triumph over Cleveland. This one was not nearly as close as Payton made 11-of-16 shots and added eight assists.

"We wanted to jump out early," he said. "We wanted to make it easy and we did a good job.

Payton was surprised that the Cavaliers chose to play him straight up.

"Most teams double-team me, but the Cavs didn't do that tonight," he said. "It's been a long time since I wasn't doubled. The Cavs double-teamed me in Seattle and I don't know why they didn't do it tonight. We had a lot of easy pick-and-rolls, a lot of free range and we were getting a lot of easy looks."

Payton scored 16 points as Seattle opened a 62-56 halftime lead. He added nine points in the third quarter as the Sonics widened the advantage to 86-73 entering the final period.

The perennial All-Star sat down for good early in the fourth quarter and Seattle pulled away, remaining unbeaten against Cleveland since November 27, 1993. It is 7-0 in Gund Arena during that span.

Brent Barry had 16 points, 11 assists and eight rebounds and Mason scored 16 points for the Sonics, who have won three in a row and six of seven. Seattle shot 51 percent (42-of-82) from the field en route to its seventh straight road win.

"It's a sign of a great team and I think this is a team that stays focused," Payton said. "On the road, we concentrate more on basketball. I think we have to revert to that back home. We're in a good flow right now."

"I think the guys' concentration and focus have been here on the road and you need that," Sonics coach Nate McMillan said. "We're playing solid basketball at both ends of the floor and we seem to be comfortable. We don't seem to be as tense as we are at home."

Wesley Person scored 22 points for the Cavaliers, who had won six of their last eight games.

"I personally thought we were very flat tonight," Cavs coach John Lucas said. "I didn't like our game at all. We had mismatches that favored them, but I didn't like our game."

Both teams shot a blistering 62 percent from the field in the first half. Seattle made 23-of-37 shots and Cleveland hit 20-of-32.

A 3-pointer by Person cut the deficit to 65-62 early in the third quarter, but the Sonics responded with eight straight points. Lewis had a tip-in before Barry hit a 3-pointer and converted a three-point play for a 73-62 lead with 7:23 remaining.

Payton sat down midway through a 9-2 burst that opened the fourth quarter and gave the Sonics a 95-75 advantage.

Rookie Predrag Drobnjak scored 15 points off the bench and Lewis added 12 for the Sonics.

Zydrunas Ilgauskas scored 16 points off the bench for the Cavs, who shot 46 percent (31-of-67) and committed 21 turnovers.

Cavs rookie teenage 7-footer DeSagana Diop made his first career start, collecting five points and one rebound in eight minutes.

"It was cool," Diop said. "I just went out and played hard and did the best I could when I was out there. I feel I am in better shape. My legs are feeling better. I wasn't even nervous."