By Scott M. Johnson
Herald Writer
SEATTLE – The second half of the NBA season continues to be unkind to the Seattle Sonics.
Two consecutive home losses to Western Conference contenders have made the past week frustrating enough, and now two of Seattle’s top players are hobbled by injuries.
Forward Vin Baker’s left foot is the most severe of those injuries. He dislocated three toes during Thursday’s 92-87 loss to the Los Angeles Lakers and is out indefinitely. Coach Nate McMillan said the veteran probably will miss at least two weeks.
Guard Desmond Mason also was hurt in the loss to the Lakers, but X-rays on his left, non-shooting wrist came up negative – which is one of the few pieces of good news to fall upon the Sonics over the past few days. He was injured late in Thursday’s game on a play during which the Lakers’ Kobe Bryant was called for a flagrant foul and the wrist swelled up Friday morning.
Mason’s status for tonight’s home contest against Boston will be a game-time decision. If Mason can start, the Sonics probably would shift Rashard Lewis inside to play alongside center Jerome James.
Baker won’t play tonight, as he is wearing a boot to protect his left foot.
“It takes away our low-post game,” McMillan said of the 6-foot-11 forward’s latest injury.
Replacing Baker is easier said than done. Due to a knee injury to center Calvin Booth, the Sonics’ frontcourt already was paper thin. McMillan said he hadn’t decided who will replace Baker in the starting lineup, but is leaning toward playing forward Vladimir Radmanovic or using Mason in a three-guard lineup.
“We have a young crew. They’ve been forced to play a lot of minutes, and they’ll have to play a lot more minutes,” McMillan said. “We can’t run away from them. We’ll have to find a way to give them opportunities. And hopefully they’ll make the best of those opportunities.”
Baker ranks third on the team in scoring (16.6 points per game) and second in rebounding (6.8) while playing in 40 of the Sonics’ 50 games this season.
“We’re going to miss him a lot,” James said. “He demands the ball a lot. He always seems to get the best post position, and he’s a great finisher around the basket.
“It puts a lot of pressure on guys such as myself and (center) Peja Drobnjak and whoever else coach has in mind to bring off the bench. We’ve got to change our mentality. Mainly, the five position has been a pick-rebound-and-block-shots position. Now with Vin out, that changes the whole mindset. It definitely puts me in the mindset of being more aggressive down on the block.”
Despite his reputation as an underachiever, Baker has been the Sonics’ most effective inside scorer during most of his tenure in Seattle. Without him, the Sonics won’t be able to pound the ball into the paint tonight against the perimeter-oriented Celtics.
“They start basically a small lineup,” McMillan said. “Against a team like that, you want an inside presence. (Not having Baker) poses some problems, because you’re limited in what you can do on the inside. You basically have to go to a perimeter game. But we still have some guys we can drop into the post inside, and we’ll definitely try and do that.”
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