SEATTLE – The Seattle SuperSonics will still face a long climb when the NBA season resumes after this weekend’s All-Star game, but perhaps something good will happen if they continue to do what they did Thursday night.
That is, winning games they should win and doing so convincingly.
Two nights after putting forth a dismal effort in a home loss to Golden State, the Sonics rebounded with a decisive 94-74 victory over Toronto. Though the Raptors had won the first two games of their West Coast road swing and four of their previous five, they were barely in this one. Seattle led from start to finish – save for 20 seconds of the second quarter – and breezed to its third-largest margin of victory this season.
“We ended the first half (of the season) with a solid win,” said a relieved Nate McMillan, Seattle’s coach. “Now what we want to do is come back next week and try to build from here.”
The win ended a two-game KeyArena losing streak for the Sonics, who improved to 25-27, and was just the team’s second victory in its last six home contests.
“It’s been a tough road the last two weeks, but we can (persevere) by remaining strong, staying together and playing our way out of this,” McMillan said. “The one thing I told the team is that tough times don’t last, tough people do.”
“The disappointing part of the first half of the season is that we let some games get away that we shouldn’t have let get away,” added Sonics guard Antonio Daniels. “But we still have 30 games left and we need to have a very good record in those 30 games to finish in the playoffs. But we don’t want to think too far ahead. We just want to take this win – and this was a very good win for us – and go into the All-Star break with a smile on our faces.”
The Sonics got good contributions from several players, particularly guard Ray Allen and forward Rashard Lewis. Allen, headed to his fourth All-Star game in Los Angeles on Sunday, was high for Seattle with 23 points to go with four rebounds and four assists. Lewis, who will participate in the 3-point shooting contest, added 22 points, nine rebounds and some fine defense on high-scoring Raptors forward Vince Carter.
Carter, an Eastern Conference All-Star starter, had 19 points, but was just 8-for-21 from the field.
Seattle rookie guard Luke Ridnour, who turns 23 today, chipped in eight points, eight assists and six rebounds – his assists and rebounds totals were both career highs. Ridnour had eight points, seven assists and five rebounds in the second quarter alone.
“In that second quarter, he really opened the game up for us,” McMillan said. “He was pushing the ball, creating offense for himself and the team. I thought that was a difference in the ballgame. When he got in there, the tempo went up.”
On the defensive end, the Sonics hustled to hold Toronto to the second-lowest scoring total for an opponent this season. Only Detroit, which managed just 72 points in a Dec. 12 game against Seattle, had a lower total.
“We looked like we had some energy,” McMillan said. “I don’t know if it’s because we’re going on a break. Maybe it’s like the last day of school, where suddenly you’re excited to be there, but we came out aggressive. We didn’t look like this two nights ago (against Golden State). We played the way we needed to play to win this game.”
The outcome, he added, gives the Sonics “something positive to think about and build on next week.”
The Raptors got 20 points from guard Alvin Williams, and 16 points and 17 rebounds from forward Donyell Marshall, but otherwise the numbers were bleak. Toronto center Chris Bosh, a promising rookie, was hobbled by a sprained left ankle and went scoreless with three rebounds and two blocked shots and just 14 rebounds.
After the game, many of the Sonics hurried from the locker room to catch flights out of town. The team will reunite for a practice Monday night, work out again on Tuesday and Wednesday, then return to action Thursday against Allen Iverson and the Philadelphia 76ers at KeyArena.
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