SEATTLE – From the days of Dr. James Naismith, a basic principle of basketball is that you have to make shots to win games.
On Friday night, the Seattle SuperSonics didn’t.
And they didn’t.
To count the outside shots Seattle made against Indiana, you needed just the fingers of one hand, plus two more. That’s right, just seven shots outside 5 feet in 48 minutes, and the result was a 101-94 loss to the Central Division-leading Pacers at KeyArena.
“We couldn’t make any shots,” sighed coach Nate McMillan, one of the few people in Seattle’s locker room willing to speak to the media after the game. “A lot of our guys had good looks and we didn’t knock them down. Those are shots you have to make, especially on nights like this when you find yourself down in a hole.”
For several Sonics, the shooting stats were particularly grim. Forward Rashard Lewis was just 3-for-11 while forward Vlade Radmanovic, the other starter, was only 2-for-10. Guard Luke Ridnour, coming off a strong game against New York on Wednesday, was 2-for-9, while guard Flip Murray was 6-for-16.
Only one Sonic made more than one outside shot and it was guard Richie Frahm, who dropped in consecutive 3-point goals in the final 70 seconds as Seattle tried vainly to rally.
Perhaps no stretch of futility was more costly than midway through the fourth quarter when, trailing by 10, Radmanovic missed a layin and, on the next possession, Murray shot an air ball from 15 feet right of the key. Had the Sonics converted those baskets, they could have pulled within six points with four minutes remaining.
Instead, Indiana’s Anthony Johnson followed with two free throws and Seattle’s hopes were all but gone.
In the first half, the Sonics compensated for the perimeter problems with some spirited play around the basket. But in the third quarter their shooting sins finally took a toll and Indiana broke the game open, going 16-for-21 from the field as Seattle’s frustration at one end seemed to carry over to the other.
Left alone, Pacers marksmen like Reggie Miller, Jermaine O’Neal and Al Harrington dropped in one goal after another, and when it was over Indiana had outscored the Sonics 36-15, turning a one-point halftime deficit into an 80-60 lead.
“You can’t give up a 36-point quarter,” McMillan said. “I thought it was very important that we get off to a good start in the third quarter … because we knew (Indiana) would turn it up. They’re a very good team. But we started off with three turnovers and after that we lost momentum.”
The loss, which halted a modest two-game winning streak, closes a stretch of seven out of eight games at home over a three-week span. The Sonics will board a charter flight this morning for a trip to Toronto and the start of a four-game, seven-day swing across the East Coast and Midwest.
On the bright side for the Sonics, their bench outscored the visitors’ backups 54-19. Of course, that was small consolation because Indiana’s starters boasted a lopsided 82-40 scoring margin. Leading the way was O’Neal, a remarkably gifted player who had 30 points, nine rebounds and five assists. Fellow forward Harrington contributed 18 points and 14 rebounds.
“O’Neal was a beast tonight,” McMillan said. “And Harrington, that young fella played very well.”
Indiana forward Ron Artest was a late scratch from the game because of lower back pain.
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