Reeling a bit from their first three-game losing streak of the season, the Seattle SuperSonics hope they have the right remedy for their travails.
A road trip.
In the NBA, where teams on average win roughly one of three games away from home, Seattle is an exception. Not only are the Sonics one of just six teams with a winning record on the road, they are one of just two among the league’s 30 ballclubs (Phoenix is the other) with a better road record than their mark at home.
It’s true. Seattle is a dandy 20-8 as the road team this season, compared to 21-11 at KeyArena. The Sonics, in fact, are chasing a franchise record for visiting victories in a single season. If Seattle can win seven of its remaining 13 road games, it would top the all-time best of 26 road wins, done three times previously.
“Anybody would be pleased with our record on the road,” said Sonics coach Nate McMillan.
The Sonics, 41-19 overall, have a chance to improve on this season’s traveling mark as they open a three-game Eastern Conference swing in New York against the Knicks this afternoon. Afterward, Seattle heads to Chicago for a Tuesday game and then to Detroit on Wednesday.
McMillan admits he is unsure why his team has been better on the road this season. He wonders if his players are more relaxed simply because they are without the pressure to please the home fans.
“At home,” he said, “when you miss that first shot, you can get a little tight. On the road you don’t have to worry about missing that first shot because the fans are booing you anyway.”
Playing as the visiting squad, he went on, “you know it’s just you against that (other) team, that arena, that city. But at home, you don’t want to fail so you’re not as quick to take chances. I’ve kind of sensed that the last few years. Even though you’d think a team should be loose at home, sometimes it seems we’re a little tight.”
Regardless of the explanation, the Sonics would be grateful for a few wins on this road swing, the team’s last to the Eastern Conference in 2004-05. Seattle has just six weeks left on its regular-season schedule, “and this is the time of the year you want to be playing your best basketball,” said guard Antonio Daniels.
“You don’t want to peak at Game 50 or Game 40,” he said. “You want to peak at around Game 60 or Game 70. That way, you’re playing your best basketball going into the playoffs.”
Likewise, McMillan is concerned by his team’s recent slide. Though most NBA rivals would be delighted to have nothing worse than a three-game losing streak, McMillan is worried about flaws that should have been corrected weeks, even months ago.
“We can’t be making the same mistakes we were making in December and January and February,” he said. “We can’t accept that. Those are things that have been drilled and talked about months ago, and some of those things shouldn’t be happening at this time of the season.”
Even during the losses, he went on, “I think we’ve played hard, but there’s been periods of time when we haven’t executed, whether it’s not moving the ball or not setting a screen or trying to do too much or defensively having a breakdown. But this is March. We’re only a few weeks from the season being over. And at this time, somehow, those things can’t happen.”
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