PORTLAND, Ore, March 30 (Ticker) -- The Seattle SuperSonics completed a profitable weekend and moved closer to clinching a playoff spot.

Brent Barry scored 22 points and Gary Payton added 18 as the Sonics squandered a 12-point lead in the second half before pulling out a 92-87 victory over the Portland Trail Blazers for their fourth straight win.

Seattle, which defeated San Antonio on Friday, opened a six-game lead over the Los Angeles Clippers for the final Western Conference playoff berth with eight games remaining.

The Sonics salvaged the finale of the four-game season series with Portland and pulled within 1 1/2 games of the Blazers in the battle for sixth place in the West.

NBA TV highlights from Sonics-Blazers: 56k | 300k Desmond Mason scored six points in the first and third quarters. Sam Forencich NBAE/Getty Images

"It's been a good week for us," Barry said. "We've been playing good ball. They made a couple runs at us, but down the stretch we were able to run our offense amd play good defense."

Seattle avoided being swept in a season series by the Blazers for only the third time in the 30-year rivalry.

"I'm very happy," Sonics coach Nate McMillan said. "They are playing hard, they are playing together. They are not coming out and feeling sorry for themselves because we are missing people. Everyone we seem to put on the floor is giving an honest effort."

Portland, again playing without forward Rasheed Wallace, rallied from a 65-53 deficit and took a 73-71 lead on a free throw by Dale Davis in the opening minute of the fourth quarter. But Seattle went ahead for good, 89-87, on Payton's jumper with 2:11 left.

Neither team scored again until Shammond Williams sank two free throws for Seattle with 11.5 seconds left. Payton made 1-of-2 from the line with 6.8 seconds to go.

"We are a playoff team, and we need to come out and play like a playoff team every night," Payton said. "We are going to take it one game at a time and win as many as possible."

Portland's Shawn Kemp had a nightmarish final minute against his former team, missing two short jumpers and 3-pointer around a crucial turnover.

"A little disappointing," said Kemp, who recorded a double-double with 13 points and 16 rebounds. "They made a heckuva comeback. I'm over the personal team vendetta against them."

After Vin Baker tipped in Payton's miss to give the Sonics an 87-83 lead with 4:11 left, Scottie Pippen hit a pair of jumpers to tie the contest. But the Sonics held the Blazers scoreless for the final three minutes.

After Pippen missed a 3-pointer, the Sonics were called for a 24-second violation. But Kemp missed a driving layup and also came up empty on the follow shot with 53 seconds to go.

"It was a bad stretch," Kemp said. "For whatever reason, I missed the layup."

Payton missed a jumper on the ensuing possession, giving the Blazers another chance to tie. Again they got the ball to Kemp, but he was stripped in the lane by Jerome James, leading to Williams' two free throws.

"We still have a few pieces of the puzzle that are missing," Barry said. "Credit the guys who step up to take up the slack. Playing hard in the NBA is a skill and not many people have it."

Derek Anderson scored 24 points and Davis added 19 for the Blazers, who have dropped two straight after winning 17 of their previous 20. They suffered a 91-79 loss to the Los Angeles Lakers on Friday.

"I'm not frusrated by this," Portland coach Maurice Cheeks said. "This is the time of year when everyone's tired. But we've been in every game and tonight was a case that we just couldn't make shots.Naturally we missed Rasheed but we can't use that as an excuse."

Seattle shot 45.5 percent from the field (35-of-77) while holding Portland to 37.5 percent (36-of-96). The Blazers outrebounded the Sonics, 50-45, and had a 30-11 edge in second-chance points.

Desmond Mason scored 14 points and Baker added 12 off the bench for Seatttle, which led, 56-50, at the intermission.