SEATTLE -- The NBA scouts were buzzing.

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"They're going to have to take another timeout."

"Who is coaching that team?"

"Man, how can you back off of Chuck Person in that situation?"

OK, so New Jersey Nets coach Don Casey proclaimed "mea culpa" after the Nets just flat out blew it against an exhausted Seattle SuperSonics team Wednesday night for a 95-92 loss.

Consider the situation: Nets ball with 7.5 seconds left in regulation and the score tied at 92.

Casey, Jim Lynam, Eddie Jordan and Mike O'Koren are all away from the bench when the timeout is called. Casey is staring at Lynam and Jordan, who are extremely animated, while O'Koren is just listening. Casey interjects a couple of points, and they never get the near the bench, so they're forced to call another timeout.

Meanwhile, star forward Keith Van Horn has been on the bench since the 5-minute mark of the third quarter along with Kerry Kittles and Jamie Feick because Casey was furious over their lack of defense. Nonetheless, he puts Van Horn in the game, apparently as a decoy.

"I didn't like the way Van Horn was playing, I didn't like the way Kittle was playing and I didn't like the way Feick was playing," Casey said. "It's time that we recognize when guys are having off nights."

That wasn't a problem, really. The bench did allow the Nets to hang in there. But even after the second timeout, Johnny Newman took the ball inbounds and never even looked for Van Horn, Stephon Marbury or anybody else.

He just took off to the basket. His shot was blocked by Ruben Patterson, and the Sonics got the ball.

Chuck Person was bringing the ball inbounds with 2.1 seconds left, and his first pass for Gary Payton was knocked out of bounds by Marbury. Now, with just 1.6 seconds left, Casey and Lynam had already yelled at Newman to back off of Person to double on Payton.

So Person gets the ball to Emanual Davis, who gets it right back to Person, and the Rifleman swishes a wide-open trey at the buzzer.

"Seattle made two big-time plays," Casey said. "They made a defensive stop, and we made a bad tactical move. I take responsibility for taking Johnny too far off of Person. And Chuck picked it up like the pro he is. He went in and did his job like a designated hitter ... the ball got back to him and he did what he's done all his life ... making clutch baskets."

And he didn't know that ahead of time? Why the indecision? Indeed, Vin Baker made a mistake for the Sonics after rebounding Newman's shot that was blocked by Patterson. Instead of calling timeout immediately, he dribbled, thus forcing the Sonics to use two timeouts to advance the ball beyond midcourt.

New Jersey's Scott Burrell is out of position to stop a dunk by Seattle's Ruben Patterson.(AP)

Still, Sonics coach Paul Westphal had it figured out and we saw why the Sonics are 10-1 in games decided by five points or less.

Conversely, the Nets are 5-11 in games decided by those same margins.

Coaching?

The Nets did have a good game plan to wear out Payton, who obviously had no legs just two days less than 48 hours back from six games in eight nights (five of those on the road and four on the East Coast). But when it came down to the closing moments, the Nets didn't have a clue what to do, and the consequence was their 15th road loss with just four wins.

"That's the worst," Marbury said. "We didn't make a play and Chuck Person hit a wide-open three at the buzzer. What else can I say?"

Nothing more needs to be said.

Finally a backup

After years of searching for someone to replace injured-turned-retired Nate McMillan to relieve Gary Payton of scoring and ball-handling responsibilities, Payton and the Sonics are cautiously optimistic with Shammond Williams.

An honorable mention All-American at North Carolina his senior year, Williams went undrafted and played only four minutes in two games for the Atlanta Hawks and scored three points during the 1999 season.

But the Sonics signed him to a three-year contract anyway late in the summer, and he was a mess early in the season. He had played in just 14 games and scored 12 points.

But when Payton was slapped with a double-technical near the end of the first quarter Monday night, Williams came on to play 32 minutes. He scored 22 points and five assists. Wednesday night against the Nets, he added 18 points and three assists in 37 minutes.

"Shammond's still got to work on a lot of things," Payton said. "He can shoot the ball, we know that. He's got to be a little bit more patient when he's trying to force things. He's still got to run the offense. But it's a plus when he came out and scored 18 and 22. That's good. But he's got to understand, he's got to be more of an all-around basketball player. As long as he's willing to work and learn things, he's going to help us. We can't rush him along with stuff."

Shots from the perimeter

The Celtics are bringing in a team president to preside over Rick Pitino, who has been overwhelmed by the dual role of coach and head of personnel. Pitino is itching to make a trade, and the organization is tired of his impulses with mediocre results. ... Sources around the league continue to believe the three teams most likely to make trades are the Heat, Warriors and Raptors. The Wizards and Sixers also might fit into the mix. The problem is everybody's over the salary cap, players still don't fit in trades, and the only two teams that are under the cap that maybe could help are the Clippers and Bulls. By the way, think Bulls general manager Jerry Krause will help the new president and part owner of the Wizards, Michael Jeffrey Jordan? He might try to swindle him, but not help him after the way Jordan goaded him for years (calling him "Crumbs" for all the doughnut crumbs always sitting on his clothes, among other things). ...

Yes, the Grizzlies did pound the Jazz by 17 in Utah Wednesday night, and you have to believe the organization is experiencing a renaissance upon the news of Chicago billionaire Michael Heisley purchasing the team. He made no bones about wanting to keep the team in Vancouver, as opposed to Bill Laurie. Laurie wanted to move the team to St. Louis since it was losing so much money in Vancouver and Laurie owns the St. Louis Kiel Center. The NBA prevented him from making such a move, and Laurie withdrew his offer. "(Heisley) said all the right things," a Grizzlies source told SportsLine. "There was a much more upbeat feeling after the press conference -- a sense of relief in the organization. The Laurie press conference made everybody feel like they were losing their jobs." ...

Just two games out, keep your eyes on the Sacramento Kings. They won at Charlotte Tuesday night, then lost at Milwaukee Wednesday night. They are at the beginning of a record eight-game road trip. ... Speaking of the road, consider the Blazers are 31-10 and are just one game behind the Lakers in the loss column. Portland has played 24 of its first 41 games away from home (17-7) compared to L.A. playing just 19 of its first 43 away from the Staples Center. That little bit might make the difference heading down the stretch for the Blazers. ...

You want to know the value of Kings forward Chris Webber? The Warriors will receive the Wizards' first pick of the 2000 draft unless it falls in the top three as part of the Webber for Tom Gugliotta trade. Otherwise, they get next year's pick, unrestricted. Meanwhile, the Warriors will give up their first pick (unrestricted) to the Magic for dealing the rights to Penny Hardaway in exchange for the rights to Webber after the 1993 draft. ... Heading into Thursday's games, the Western Conference still holds a comfortable lead over the East 117-96.