SEATTLE – Without top scorer Ray Allen to start this NBA season, the Seattle SuperSonics knew they would have to lean heavily on their young forward tandem of Rashard Lewis and Vlade Radmanovic.
On Wednesday night, those two gave their expected contributions, but it was the performance of a third youngster, point guard Luke Ridnour, that helped tipped the scales for Seattle in a 95-87 win over the New York Knicks.
Ridnour, the curly-haired rookie from Blaine, had his best all-around game as a pro, totaling 15 points, seven assists and five rebounds in 28 minutes, each a season best. Moreover, Ridnour was on the court for all 12 minutes of the decisive fourth quarter and had 10 points and three assists – in other words, contributing to 16 of Seattle’s 24 points in the period – as the Sonics held off New York’s comeback bid.
“Even though we needed defense with the lead (in the late minutes), he was the guy creating offense for us,” said Sonics coach Nate McMillan. “And I said, ‘I’m going to leave him in.’ That is a very confident young guy. He doesn’t get rattled too easily. Occasionally he’ll turn the ball over or make a mistake by trying to create a little bit too much … but he played well tonight. He played with a lot of confidence.”
Seattle’s best offensive play much of this game was an old basketball standby, the pick-and-roll. With Ridnour coming off the screen with the ball, either to penetrate the middle, pass to the screening teammate or deliver the ball to another teammate on the perimeter, the Sonics never let the Knicks get a defensive rhythm.
“Luke came in and was super-effective against those guys,” said Seattle’s Brent Barry. “We put the ball in his hands and worked off pick-and-rolls. And the thing that’s great about Luke is that he doesn’t shy away from going in there and shooting the shot, but he also creates for other guys. He’s dangerous in that way.”
“You’ve got to give it to him,” said New York’s Charlie Ward, who was matched against Ridnour much of the night. “They ran a lot of pick-and-rolls for him and he made the plays.”
The only thing tainting Ridnour’s game was some mediocre shooting. He was just 5-for-15 from the field, but stepped up in the fourth quarter to go 3-for-6 while converting all four free throw chances.
It was also in the final period that Ridnour had one of his best moments. After a Seattle steal, he had the middle of a Sonics fast break and went right to the basket, which was defended by New York’s 7-foot-2 Dikembe Mutombo, long one of the NBA’s best defensive centers. Unafraid, Ridnour looped a running shot up and over Mutombo, giving Seattle a 10-point margin with about three minutes to play that seemed to ice the outcome.
“That was just an instinct shot,” he said with a boyish, aw-shucks grin.
“I’m just starting to learn and I still have a long way to go,” added Ridnour, who was clad in blue jeans and a gray University of Oregon T-shirt after the game. “… It’s a long season and I just want to get better with each game.”
Lewis, meanwhile, chipped in 13 points and 13 rebounds, the latter a season high, while Radmanovic had a team-best 21 points to go with six rebounds. Radmanovic was 8-for-14 from the field, including 5-for-6 from the 3-point stripe.
The win came against a Knicks team that was surprisingly careless with the ball. New York, in the first game of a five-game West Coast road trip, committed 23 turnovers, matching a season high for a Sonics opponent. About the only highlight for New York was a stellar night at the free throw line. The Knicks, the NBA leaders in free throws, were 21-for-22 to boost their season percentage to 84.5.
In his second game after missing almost two seasons with knee injuries, New York’s Antonio McDyess played 19 minutes and had seven points and six rebounds.
The victory was Seattle’s second in a row, which is something the Sonics haven’t done since road wins against Minnesota and Milwaukee back in mid-November.
Ahead for Seattle is a Friday night game at KeyArena vs. Indiana, which will cap a three-week stretch in which the Sonics played seven home games and just once on the road. After hosting the Pacers, Seattle will head east for games next week at Toronto, New Jersey, Boston and Detroit.
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