By Rich Myhre
Herald Writer
SEATTLE – The Seattle SuperSonics built their recent six-game winning streak on smooth offensive execution.
When the offense came undone on Friday night, so did the winning streak.
The Sonics, attempting to carry their win string over into the new year, instead had a game in which they shot poorly, took care of the ball poorly and, ultimately, scored poorly in an 87-77 loss to the visiting Philadelphia 76ers. The defeat, before a second consecutive KeyArena sellout of 17,072, was Seattle’s first at home since a 98-94 overtime setback vs. Miami on Dec. 7.
Many in the crowd no doubt came to ogle Philadelphia’s Allen Iverson, the NBA’s MVP last season, and a Sonics team that has been both entertaining and successful in recent weeks. Alas, the folks on hand were not given the best of either. Iverson was, for him, very average with 22 points on 8-for-21 shooting, though he had a few dazzling layins and nifty 3-point bombs.
The Sonics, meanwhile, had one of their most dismal efforts of the season, with one offensive season low and almost three others. Seattle was just 6-for-14 from the free throw line, a 42.9 percentage that was well below the previous low of 55.0 percent vs. Detroit on Dec. 5.
Seattle’s 77 points was its second-lowest total of the season (the Sonics scored 74 points vs. Utah on Nov. 3) and the 37.6 field goal percentage was the third-worst of the season (31.9 at Miami on Nov. 6, 36.7 vs. Miami on Dec. 7).
“We played hard, but the ball just would not go in the hole for us,” said Seattle’s Vin Baker. “We missed a lot of the shots we’ve been making in the last six games. There was really a lid on the rim tonight, and I think that was the difference in the game.”
In addition, Seattle’s 20 turnovers were almost a season high (21 vs. Detroit on Dec. 5 and Sacramento on Dec. 19).
“We just didn’t do a good job of taking care of the ball,” said Sonics coach Nate McMillan. “(The Sixers) were not doing a lot of trapping. We were just careless. We knew this team is very quick and they play the passing lanes, but a few of those passes they didn’t have to move.”
It was not supposed to be this way, of course. The Sixers were supposed to be road weary at the tail end of a six-game, 12-day trip around the Western Conference. The Sonics, on the other hand, were well rested with five days off since their last game.
Were the Sonics sloppy because of inactivity?
“With the turnovers and the layups we missed, I think it showed we had some rust,” Baker said.
“We looked like we’ve been off,” McMillan conceded. “Our execution wasn’t as sharp as it was before we took this break. But you still have to play. And they just beat us on both ends.”
Seattle led just once in the game, a 2-0 margin on a Gary Payton basket in the early moments. From there the Sixers went on top to stay, and the lead was in double digits for most of the third quarter and all of the fourth. Midway through the final period, with Seattle facing a 19-point deficit, many in the crowd headed for the parking lots. Moments later, when McMillan waved the white flag by taking Payton from the game, dozens of other spectators called it a night.
Seattle substitutes closed the game with nine unanswered points to make the final score respectable.
The Sixers, McMillan said, “are a solid team. There’s a reason they were in the Finals last year. And as I told the team, that winning streak didn’t make us a great team and losing this game doesn’t make us a bad team.”
The Sonics were to fly out of Seattle this morning, bound for Memphis and a Sunday afternoon game that opens a three-game road trip. The swing includes stops in Chicago on Monday and Minnesota on Wednesday.
“Now we have to go out on the road and play just as well as we did during this homestretch,” McMillan said. “There are a couple of games we should get if we play the way we’re capable of playing.”
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