SEATTLE – Say this for the Indiana Pacers. Despite being decimated by suspensions and injuries, they never backed down, never wavered, never quit.
Indeed, the undermanned Pacers gave the Seattle SuperSonics everything they could handle on Sunday night, but in the end Indiana simply did not have the horses to stay with the NBA’s top team to date. With just nine players in uniform and only six that scored, the Pacers could do no better than shadow Seattle for most of 48 minutes.
The result was a 103-95 Sonics victory, the team’s seventh at KeyArena without a loss this season and an outcome that boosted Seattle’s league-best record to 13-2. Just two other times in franchise history have the Sonics had 13 victories through 15 games – 1982-83 when Seattle finished 48-34 and 1993-94 when the final record was 63-19.
For Indiana, meanwhile, it was the second loss in five outings since a horrific brawl with Detroit fans during a Nov. 19 game, resulting in the suspensions of four players, including the team’s top three scorers – Ron Artest, Jermaine O’Neal and Stephen Jackson. In addition, the Pacers are also without injured players Reggie Miller (broken hand), Jonathan Bender (sore knee), Scot Pollard (sore back) and Jeff Foster (surgery, right hip).
”We knew they had a short bench,” said Sonics coach Nate McMillan. ”We were hoping that would be a factor, and in the second half it looked like they were a little fatigued.”
Still, McMillan made sure to address the issue of respect in his pre-game remarks.
”I felt like the first couple of teams that played them (after the suspensions) may have taken them lightly,” he said. ”We couldn’t afford to do that. My message every night has been that you have to play the game hard, play the game the right way, and you definitely have to respect your opponent, regardless of who they have in uniform.”
Seattle started slowly, missing its first four shots and allowing the Pacers to seize a 6-0 lead. The deficit, in fact, reached 15-4 before the Sonics finally got untracked, sparked by 3-pointers from Luke Ridnour and Ray Allen. Another 3-pointer, this from Vlade Radmanovic, finally pushed Seattle on top for the first time, 22-21.
The teams swapped leads early in the second period before the Sonics at last eased on top to stay. Seattle led 55-46 at halftime and kept the visitors at arm’s distance the rest of the way, though Indiana battled gamely to the end. Trailing 93-89 with 3:20 to play, the Pacers had a chance to draw within one, but James Jones’ 3-point try from the right baseline kicked off the rim. From there, the Sonics gradually padded their margin to the final horn.
”I thought we gave an honest effort,” said Indiana coach Rick Carlisle, one of the NBA’s genuine class acts. ”We did some good things out there. We had some guys play well, but in the end we weren’t efficient enough and (Seattle) just got the ball in the basket more than we did.”
The Sonics, he went on, ”are playing the exact style you have to play to be successful with the personnel they have. Right now, Nate is doing the best job of coaching in the league.”
All of Indiana’s starters scored in double figures, led by Jones with a game-best 27 points, but the Pacers had just four points from the bench, all by Eddie Gill. Seattle, by contrast, got 45 points from four reserves, and the Sonics also had a commanding 40-29 rebounding edge. Backup forward Nick Collison led Seattle with nine rebounds, a high for his young career.
Forward Rashard Lewis shrugged off a strained left shoulder that knocked him out of Friday’s game against New Jersey to lead the Sonics with 22 points.
”My shoulder’s a little sore,” said Lewis, who sat in front of his locker cubicle after the game with ice wraps on both knees and his left shoulder, and with both feet in a bucket of ice water. ”It was bothering me a little bit, but because I’m right-handed it doesn’t bother my shot too much. I just try to keep my left arm out of traffic as much as possible.”
Ahead for the Sonics is a stretch of rugged games against Western Conference foes. Seattle travels to Portland for a Tuesday night game, returns to host Utah on Wednesday, faces Portland at KeyArena on Saturday, then heads to Texas for games against San Antonio on Dec. 8 and Dallas on Dec. 9.
It is the kind of schedule that could tarnish Seattle’s shiny record, but for now, said guard Antonio Daniels, ”we feel good. We’re playing well and we believe in each other. Guys want whoever is out there on the floor to succeed, and when you have that sort of optimism it’s a recipe for success.”
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