By Frank Hughes
The News Tribune
SALT LAKE CITY – Some nights the Seattle SuperSonics look like world beaters, other nights they look like egg beaters.
Less than 24 hours after soundly defeating the Minnesota Timberwolves and eliciting thoughts of playoff possibilities, the Sonics were dragged up and down the court by the Utah Jazz on Wednesday night. Utah beat the Sonics 112-88.
“We just had no answer for these guys,” Sonics coach Nate McMillan said.
“They whipped us. We got a spanking.”
Granted, the Sonics were tired from playing a spirited game Tuesday night, then flying to Utah and having to suit up again.
That could account for their lack of jump shooting. But it was not an excuse for not hustling up and down the court, the reason Seattle had its three-game winning streak snapped.
All the Jazz players had to do was run hard, and they were able to score at will because no Sonics player seemed willing to get back on defense. In the first half alone, the Jazz outscored Seattle 17-0 in fastbreak points.
Normally, teams don’t score 17 fastbreak points in an entire game.
Things didn’t get much better in the second half, with Utah scoring another eight points in transition, led by Karl Malone (19 points), rookie Andrei Kirilenko (15 points) and Donyell Marshall (20 points, 10 rebounds).
The overall fastbreak differential was 25-2, with Utah holding an astounding 62-28 edge in the paint.
“This team, as efficient as they are, when you give them that many easy baskets in transition, they are as good as they used to be,” Sonics guard Brent Barry said.
At one point in the fourth quarter, Rashard Lewis had his shot double-blocked by Greg Ostertag and Kirilenko and was knocked to the floor. Lewis simply lay there with his hands underneath his head as Kirilenko sprinted downcourt and finished off the break with a thunderous two-handed jam.
Lewis finally got up and drew a technical foul for griping to the referees, then was promptly yanked for Vladimir Radmanovic.
“They made layups,” Gary Payton said of the Jazz, which shot 55 percent. “They ran, and they dunked the ball. We’re not stopping transition, we’re not doing anything. They do whatever they want to do against us.”
Utah seemed primed to have its six-game winning streak over Seattle snapped, given the turmoil the Jazz has gone through recently.
Utah is off to its worst start in 19 years (6-9). There are accusations that the Jazz players don’t play hard (Ostertag has had one field goal in the past three games and lost his starting spot). And then there are the trade rumors about Karl Malone going to Dallas or other destinations, which surfaced this week, creating a stir that should have caused a distraction.
Instead, the rumors seemed to galvanize the Jazz, who sent the Sonics to their fifth defeat in as many tries of the second game of back-to-back sets.
That stat alone only lends credence to the notion that the Sonics are going to remain inconsistent because they rely so heavily on their perimeter game.
It looks great when they shoot as well as they did against the Timberwolves, but when their marksmanship is off, as it was against the Jazz (40 percent), they look terribly vulnerable.
“That’s the schedule,” Payton said. “We’ve got to play back-to-backs and we’ve got to be prepared for it. The young guys (have) got to understand that we have to come to play every night. We’ve got to understand that we’ve got to be mentally tough.”
Barry followed his career-high night Tuesday by missing five of six shots and scoring five points, 26 fewer than the night before; Lewis had 13 points on 5-for-18 shooting; center Calvin Booth was scoreless in 22 minutes.
The only players to have an impact offensively were Payton, who scored 18 points, and Vin Baker, who made nine of 14 shots for 20.
However, Baker was limited to two rebounds in 32 minutes, which gives him a total of three boards in his past 53 minutes of play.
Now Seattle gets a real test. It dropped below .500 again (8-9), and has the world champion Los Angeles Lakers coming into town Friday, followed up by George Karl’s Milwaukee Bucks, the best team in the East.
Fortunately for them, they get a day off in between to rest.
Talk to us
> Give us your news tips.
> Send us a letter to the editor.
> More Herald contact information.