SEATTLE – Even three bonus points, given erroneously to the visiting Chicago Bulls in the second quarter and then taken away at the end of the third quarter, could not help the Seattle SuperSonics on Friday night.

In a rough, often rag-tag clash at KeyArena, Chicago handed the Sonics their third consecutive loss, all at home in the last week. The 100-97 decision before a disappointed sellout gathering of 17,072 gave Seattle its first three-game losing streak of the season.

The outcome was not decided until the final few moments. With 1.5 seconds on the clock and Seattle trailing 99-97, Sonics forward Rashard Lewis drew a foul on a drive to the basket. He stepped to the free throw line, but bounced his first attempt off the rim. Lewis then had to miss his second try intentionally, which he did, but the carom was snagged by Chicago’s Tyson Chandler, who was fouled with 0.2 showing.

At the other end, Chandler made his first free throw. He then missed the second, but time expired as soon as the rebound was touched by the Sonics.

“You’ve got to make them,” said Seattle coach Nate McMillan of Lewis’ free throw miss, “and it didn’t happen.”

Still, McMillan preferred to blame the loss on other Sonics flaws. And in 48 minutes, he saw many.

“In this game you make breaks for yourself and (Chicago) made the plays,” he said. “They were aggressive defensively all night long. We had some costly turnovers. We were just careless with the ball. And we gave up 20 second-chance points. Those are just hustle points.

“Give the Bulls credit. They scrapped, they hustled and they got after it defensively. They made the plays at the end.”

For the Sonics, it was not only their third straight defeat, but also the team’s eighth loss in its last 14 games at KeyArena over the last eight weeks.

“We knew there would be a time when we sort of hit a wall and we’re going through that now,” said Seattle guard Antonio Daniels. “But no one is going to feel sorry for us. We’ve just got to put this behind us. You (reporters) are going to write what you’re going to write and say what you’re going to say, but we can’t afford to let this affect us the wrong way.”

“You don’t want to lose,” added Sonics forward Nick Collison, “but you’re bound to lose some games. In the NBA, you’re going to lose three in a row at times. These things happen to teams throughout the year because it’s a long season. If we can just not panic and tighten things up and play better, I think we’ll be fine.”

Seattle, which had trailed much of the second half, went ahead 97-96 with 20 seconds to play in the fourth quarter on Collison’s putback basket. The Bulls countered moments later as talented rookie guard Ben Gordon, on his way to a team-high 22 points _14 in the fourth quarter – scored with a 10-foot runner from left of the key with 12 seconds left.

After a timeout, Seattle tried for the go-ahead points, but guard Ray Allen’s spinning shot from right of the key was blocked by the 7-foot-1 Chandler. Bulls guard Chris Duhon snagged the loose ball and was immediately fouled, and he converted the first of two attempts to put the visitors up 99-97 with 4.5 remaining.

Seattle took its final timeout and set up a play for Lewis. He managed to get a looping shot at the basket that missed, but he was fouled by Chicago’s Eddy Curry, setting up his ill-fated trip to the line.

Later, Lewis was in no mood to discuss the missed free throw or anything else. “I ain’t talking tonight,” he told a gathering of media folks.

The scoreboard problem occurred early in the second quarter and was not resolved until the break between the third and fourth periods. Somehow the Bulls ended up receiving three extra points, and the start of the second half was delayed as the three officials conferred with the scorekeepers and both head coaches. But the scoreboard was not corrected until the start of the final period, when Chicago’s 78-69 lead was trimmed to 75-69.

The Sonics, who played without forward Danny Fortson – on the bench in street clothes, his punishment for a practice argument with McMillan on Thursday – suffered another blow when forward Reggie Evans suffered an apparent left ankle sprain with about four minutes left in the game. Evans, who twisted his ankle as he landed on the foot of teammate Antonio Daniels on a rebound attempt, left the court and immediately went to the locker room.

Evans’ status for Seattle’s upcoming road trip was to be evaluated today. The Sonics were scheduled for an early-morning flight to New York and the start of a three-game Eastern Conference road trip. Seattle faces the Knicks on Sunday afternoon, then heads to Chicago on Tuesday and Detroit on Wednesday. After this week, Seattle’s remaining road games will all be against Western Conference teams.

“We’ve got to go out on the road and take care of business,” Daniels said. “If we win three games on the road, these past three games won’t even matter.