SEATTLE – Having breezed through the first seven games of their 2004-05 schedule, the Seattle SuperSonics left town on Monday morning wondering if the good fortune would follow them to the East Coast.
The Sonics, who have won six straight after dropping their opener to the Clippers in Los Angeles, face a rugged six-game, 10-day road swing that opens tonight in Philadelphia against a 76ers team that has won three in a row. Seattle then visits New Jersey on Wednesday, crosses the border to Toronto on Friday, returns to play Boston on Sunday, then wraps up the trip with games in Minnesota on Nov. 23 and Memphis on Nov. 24.
It is Seattle’s longest trek of the season, both in number of days and number of games.
The big question is whether the Sonics can muster the same energy and intensity that has carried them to perhaps the league’s most impressive start. After losing to the Clippers (a team that just might be better than anyone imagined), Seattle blew past Atlanta, San Antonio, Denver and Sacramento before winning close games against Toronto and Memphis.
Of course, as investment companies are required to report, past performances are no guarantee of future success.
“It can turn at the drop of a dime,” acknowledged Sonics guard Ray Allen. “We can definitely count our blessings, and now all the early breaks we’ve gotten we have to hope continue for us.”
Though Seattle has not had a home record under .500 in two decades, the team is often below .500 on the road. Last season, in fact, the Sonics were 15-20 away from home (one “road” game was played in Japan), and even had a losing road record against the weaker Eastern Conference.
This season, since five of the team’s six wins have come at KeyArena, no one is quite sure how the Sonics will fare on the opposite side of the continent.
“Regardless of where we are, we have to continue to do those things that have made us successful,” Allen said. “Other than that, it’s just basketball. In spite of the (opposing) fans, it’s still just five-on-five. I think we’ve learned a little bit about how we want to play, and now we just have to continue to beat our opponents.”
“This will definitely be a tough trip,” added teammate Antonio Daniels. “And that means that when we step out on that floor, we have to believe in each other. The guys in this locker room, whether we’re in Philadelphia or whether we’re in Minnesota or wherever we are, and when those crowds are going crazy, we have to be able to pull together and we have to believe in one another.”
The biggest key, coach Nate McMillan said, will be the team’s effort level. If the Sonics can take what they have done at home and match it on the road, this could be a successful trip.
“If we’re playing the game hard, if we’re playing the game together, then I can live with the outcome, whatever it is,” McMillan said. “This (good start) may be a surprise to a lot of people, and I think it is, but for me I just respect the way we’re playing. As long as we’re playing hard, unselfish basketball, more good will come to this team than bad.”
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