SEATTLE – Facing the prospect of a seventh straight loss – preseason losses, but losses nonetheless – Seattle SuperSonics coach Nate McMillan decided it was time for a coaching change.
Not a new coach, a new approach.
Though most coaches are indifferent to preseason outcomes, even in the late moments of a close game, McMillan coached the final few minutes of Friday’s game at KeyArena like it was the NBA Finals. There were opportune timeouts, strategic substitutions and, in particular, Ray Allen on the court.
The result was a 91-87 victory over the Portland Trail Blazers in Seattle’s final exhibition test before the start of the regular season next week. The Sonics finished the preseason with a 2-6 record.
“You want to win all games,” McMillan said, “but tonight I felt like we came out and played with the intensity that you need to win. And I basically coached it like a regular-season game. I played guys who were productive on the floor and I subbed to give us what I felt like was an advantage.
“You want to go into the regular season with the good feeling of winning the game and beating a good team,” he added. The Blazers “were missing some players (with injuries), but that’s still a very good team over there. And other than the turnovers (21), I thought we played a pretty good game.”
The big difference was Allen, who had missed Seattle’s last two games because of back spasms and was questionable to play against Portland. Instead he started and played 42 minutes, including all but two minutes of the fourth quarter.
And in that period he was typically brilliant, delivering 17 points on 7-for-8 shooting from the field, including 3-for-4 from the 3-point stripe.
Ten of those points were consecutive in the closing minutes, and eight came in the final 61 seconds. With just under four minutes to play, Allen scored with a fast-break layin to put the Sonics on top 82-78. Seattle then went scoreless for nearly three minutes, allowing the Blazers to slip into an 85-82 lead.
Back came Allen, scoring first with a dandy fadeaway jumper from the left baseline, a shot that left Portland defender Ruben Patterson flat-footed on the court. Then, on back-to-back possessions Allen drained 3-pointers from the top of the key to give the Sonics a lead they never lost.
The second 3-pointer was the result of some selfless offense, first from Luke Ridnour and then from Antonio Daniels. With 30 seconds remaining and the score 87-87, Ridnour slipped free on the right side and drove for the basket. As Portland’s weak-side defense converged, Ridnour opted not to try for a difficult layin and instead fired a pass to Daniels in the corner.
Daniels barely had the ball in his hands before he was zipping another pass to Allen, who had an unguarded attempt from the top of the key.
“That was good ball movement,” McMillan said. “A.D. (Daniels) didn’t feel comfortable with the shot he had, but he was aware that Ray was standing at the top and that’s how you have to play. A.D. had an open look, but Ray had an even better shot and so (Daniels) rotated the ball to a guy who had the hot hand.”
As for playing Allen 42 minutes, McMillan said: “He wanted to basically play like this was a regular-season game. We talked about it and he felt like he was stiffening up whenever I sat him (too long) during the earlier preseason games. He wanted to get a good run in and so we played him just like a regular-season game.”
McMillan started a lineup of Allen and Ridnour at guard, Vitaly Potapenko at center, and forwards Vlade Radmanovic and Reggie Evans. If Rashard Lewis returns from his foot injury, he would replace Radmanovic for next Wednesday’s first regular-season game in Los Angeles against the Clippers, McMillan said. If Lewis is unable to play, that same five would likely start the opener, he said.
Both teams played the game with short benches. The Blazers, with just eight players in uniform, were without forward Qyntel Woods (pending suspension), guards Nick Van Exel (sore knees) and Derek Anderson (sore back), and centers Theo Ratliff (pulled wisdom teeth), Vladimir Stepania (sore knee) and Joel Przybilla (sore foot).
Seattle, meanwhile, was missing Lewis (plantar fasciitis, left foot) and Flip Murray (left quadricep strain).
Guard Richie Frahm, a Seattle reserve a year ago, was in the Blazers’ starting lineup and scored eight points, shooting a disappointing 3-for-12 from the field.
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