SEATTLE – The Seattle SuperSonics knew they were missing Ray Allen through the first 7 1/2weeks of this NBA season, but on Tuesday night they realized just how much.
With Allen not only on the court, but in the starting lineup and leading the team in scoring, the Sonics breezed to a lopsided 116-90 victory over the visiting Phoenix Suns before 14,527 delighted spectators at KeyArena. The 26-point spread was Seattle’s largest margin of victory this season.
Allen, who underwent Nov. 1 arthroscopic surgery to remove bone and cartilage fragments from his right ankle, finished the night with 24 points, going 8-for-13 from the field, including 4-for-7 from the 3-point stripe, to go with four free throws in his 2003-04 debut. He tacked on seven assists and two rebounds in just 23 minutes.
“I didn’t even think about my ankle,” Allen said afterward. “The only thing I thought about was how tired I was. But I felt pretty good.”
“Ray Allen looked like he didn’t miss a beat,” said Sonics coach Nate McMillan. “He came out sharp. It was nice to see him out on the floor, playing well and doing the things he’s capable of doing. He did a real good job.”
Added Seattle guard Antonio Daniels: “It was huge just to have him out there.”
While no one in Seattle’s locker room was missing Allen’s impact on the outcome, neither were any of the visitors.
“That guy is great,” said Phoenix coach Mike D’Antoni. “I asked him why he couldn’t wait until after Christmas to come back, but obviously he was itching to play. But he was good.”
Starting briskly, Allen scored Seattle’s first four points of the game, first with a left-handed layin down the left side of the lane in the early moments and then with a tricky 15-foot fadeaway jumper from the left baseline under tight guard. The Sonics used those points to nab a lead they would never lose.
Allen had six of his points in the first quarter in as many minutes, then added eight more in another six minutes of the second period, converting seven of 10 chances from the field in the opening half. By then the Sonics had a five-point edge and in the second half they turned the game into a rout. The lead stayed in double digits after four minutes of the third quarter and was over 20 for all but a few moments of the final period.
To date, Daniels said, “everything we’ve been doing so far has been down to the wire, last second. So it was good to get this type of victory.”
There were other good numbers, too. Seattle also set a season high for field goal percentage (46-for-82, .561 percent) and tied its season best for assists (27).
“The one thing Ray brought to the team last year was getting everybody involved and that happened again tonight,” McMillan said. “The all movement was there. We didn’t have a lot of guys standing around.”
Though McMillan hopes Allen’s presence will re-energize the team, “the things we need to improve are still the same – rebounding and defending. If we can do that, whether with Ray or without Ray, we’ll win more ballgames. So this is just one game, we played well and now we want to continue to build from this.”
Phoenix assistant coach Tim Grgurich, a former Sonics assistant, had an odd outburst in the fourth quarter, cursing at several members of the Seattle press corps. Grgurich went so far as to approach the press table, which is adjacent to the visitors’ bench, and wag a finger in the face of one of the writers before being restrained by Suns reserve center Scott Williams, who had been seated next to Grgurich.
Later, speaking through a Suns spokeswoman, Grgurich attributed the outburst “to the heat of the moment.”
Phoenix was without forward Amare Stoudemire, last season’s NBA Rookie of the Year, who is on the injured list with a severe ankle sprain. He is not due back until sometime next month.
The win lifted the Sonics back to .500 (13-13) heading into the Christmas holiday. Seattle will close the year with a home game Saturday against Minnesota and a two-game trip to Houston and Memphis next week, leading up to the much-anticipated Jan. 2 return of former Sonic Gary Payton to KeyArena as the Los Angeles Lakers, his new team, make their first visit of the season.
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