After missing two games because of acute tonsillitis, which finally went away with antibiotics instead of surgery, Antonio Daniels was his usual chipper self before Tuesday’s game.
“I’m ready to go,” said the backup guard, who was waylaid for 10 days since becoming ill a day after a Dec. 17 game vs. Phoenix at KeyArena.
The sore throat, which was so painful that Daniels could barely swallow sips of water, “has been going down for the last couple of days, and right now I just have a common cold cough.”
Daniels, who lost 5-10 pounds during his illness, played 20 minutes against Philadelphia and made just one of four field goal attempts. He admitted he felt winded and leg weary after the game.
Before the game, coach Nate McMillan said the plan for Daniels was “to watch him. He practiced right before we left (for Utah on Monday) and he didn’t look bad, but he looked a little weak. He’s been off for about a week, so I’ll just put him out there and see how he goes.”
One down, two to go: Monday’s win over Utah was McMillan’s first as head coach at Salt Lake City’s Delta Center. The Sonics had lost the eight previous games at that arena since he took over for Paul Westphal on Nov. 27, 2000.
“For me, any time you beat Utah it’s special,” McMillan said Tuesday. “Knowing how tough it is to beat that team, it doesn’t really make a difference where it is. But Utah has one of the toughest buildings in the league to go play in. So, yeah, it was special.”
McMillan has still yet to win at Boston’s Fleet Center and New York’s Madison Square Garden. The Sonics have already made their one trip of the season to Boston, but visit New York on March 13.
Jet setter: Teen-age rookie Robert Swift is adjusting to NBA travel, but says it is not terribly different from being an AAU player in recent years.
In high school, Swift played on three summer AAU teams and tournaments were usually on the East Coast. Swift, who lived in Bakersfield, Calif., figures he made about eight trips each summer to the East Coast, providing a taste of what NBA travel is like.
“This isn’t a new experience,” he said, “it’s just a little bit different. But it’s better now because instead of sitting in coach we have a charter, so it does make it easier to be able to fly and play with minimal side effects.”
Does he mind the travel?
“I enjoy every minute of it,” he said. On the plane, he said, “I like listening and learning from teammates. It’s just fun, honestly.”
That’s a fact: Coming into Tuesday’s game, Allen Iverson had led the 76ers in both scoring and assists in 19 of the team’s 26 games.
Rich Myhre, Herald Writer
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