By Frank Hughes
The News Tribune
SALT LAKE CITY – Perhaps it was because Seattle coach Nate McMillan had been away for a few days tending to his sick mother and the SuperSonics lost their focus.
Perhaps it was because they had four days off since their previous victory and the Sonics lost their rhythm.
Or perhaps the most likely explanation is that they are simply not as good as the Utah Jazz, who defeated the Sonics for the eighth consecutive time, 95-80, at the Delta Center on Wednesday night.
Before the game, McMillan outlined for his players what they needed to do to break their slump against Utah. The Sonics failed to do everything he talked about.
They didn’t rebound. They didn’t stop Utah’s fast break. They didn’t limit the Jazz’s points in the paint or protect the ball. And, thus, the Sonics didn’t win, dropping to 19-18 as the race for the final playoff sports in the Western Conference remains tightly contested between five teams.
How the loss affects Seattle remains to be seen, but it could be detrimental if a final playoff spot or postseason seeding comes down to its head-to-head games with Utah (21-17). The Jazz has won all three games against Seattle this season, and owns the tiebreaker advantage.
“First of all, we have to believe we can beat this team,” said McMillan, who took extra time addressing his team in the locker room following the game. “We haven’t given ourselves an opportunity to beat this team.”
This game was over by the end of the third quarter. What is so frustrating for the Sonics is that Utah’s best players, Karl Malone and John Stockton, didn’t even have average nights, and the Jazz still dominated. Malone had 17 points and nine rebounds and Stockton 15 points and five assists.
It was the play of rookies Jarron Collins and Andrei Kirilenko hurt Seattle.
Collins, a 6-foot-11 forward who was second-round draft pick out of Stanford, made all nine of his shots, scored a career-high 22 points and had 10 rebounds, six on the offensive end.
“We couldn’t stop him on the post and we couldn’t beat him on the boards,” McMillan said. “Him getting six offensive rebounds with us not double-teaming, I don’t understand that.”
Kirilenko, a Russian nicknamed “AK-47” (his uniform number is 47), stood in for the injured Donyell Marshall, out with a sore hip. Kirilenko started the game by blocking the shot of Rashard Lewis, and never stopped. He had 13 points, four rebounds and three blocks, getting warmed up for the rookie game at the upcoming All-Star weekend.
“All those guys just outscrapped us,” McMillan said.
One of the things McMillan warned his players against is losing their composure against a Jazz team that is so experienced at pushing, shoving and grabbing deftly enough that the officials don’t notice it.
Art Long apparently did not listen. Already frustrated by the play of Collins, Long was called for a foul on Kirilenko with 8 minutes, 3 seconds remaining in the third quarter and the Jazz making a run.
As Kirilenko shot free throws, Long continued to yap at the officials. Then after Kirilenko made his second free throws, giving Utah a 52-43 lead, Long threw aside Collins and continued to yell about the foul call, earning a technical foul.
McMillan benched Long for the remainder of the game, and probably should have done the same for the rest of the starters, who allowed Utah to build a lead as big as 21 points.
“I know one of the reasons I am always in foul trouble is because it is my first year and nobody has ever heard of Art Long,” he said. “Sometimes it hurts. That is why I am standing here with tears in my eyes. Coach tells us we are last in the league in rebounding. I take that to heart, because that is my job. The referees are not allowing me to be as physical as my opponent, so I have to use my head. But sometimes you feel like you come in this building and you have to play against six people, and I am not talking about the fans.”
Frank Hughes writes for The News Tribune in Tacoma, Wash.
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