SEATTLE – Rashard Lewis was back, inspiring his teammates with his presence – not to mention a gallant 27-point effort – and the result was an energetic and wholly entertaining performance by the Seattle SuperSonics on Saturday night.

One night after perhaps their worst performance of the season, the Sonics responded with one of their best in a 95-88 victory over the Houston Rockets at KeyArena.

Although there were plenty of heroes for Seattle this night, no one stood taller than Lewis, who made the decision to play just three days after learning that his step-brother had died. Lewis missed practices on Wednesday and Thursday, along with Friday night’s dismal 98-81 loss at Utah, and he had the option of being excused for Saturday’s game.

Instead he chose to play and it was his 11 points in the opening period that set a tone Seattle maintained throughout the game.

“You could just see it on his face,” said Seattle’s Antonio Daniels. “When I came in here this afternoon (to prepare for the game), you could see he was ready to go. And for him to come out and play tonight, and to play the way he played, that carried us through.”

Added Daniels: “To go through what Rashard has been through the past couple of days, and then to come out here and leave it all on the floor, that young man has a big heart.”

Lewis, who had spent several days at his family’s home in Houston before returning to Seattle, showed from the outset that he wanted this to be a special night. He was 5-for-7 from the field in the first quarter and 7-for-11 in the first half, including a pair of 3-pointers, for 18 points. In the second half, the Rockets countered with immediate double-teams to force the ball out of his hands, and that opened up opportunities for teammates.

When it was over, he also had nine rebounds, two assists, a blocked shot and no turnovers in a team-high 40 minutes.

“You never know how a guy will come back after a death (in the family),” said Sonics coach Nate McMillan. “Sometimes they play well because sometimes getting out and playing in a game takes your mind off of it. But tonight he played really well.”

McMillan, who was disgusted by his team’s lackluster play in the third quarter of Friday’s game, reacted by shuffling his starting lineup for the Rockets. Sent to the bench were center Calvin Booth and guard Flip Murray, replaced by Jerome James and Daniels.

Still, McMillan said, other Sonics shared the blame at Utah. “I could have changed four guys in my starting lineup if I wanted,” he said, evidently leaving out Brent Barry but including Vlade Radmanovic and Reggie Evans. “We had four guys in that lineup who were awful.”

If the lineup change left his motive unclear, McMillan’s words were pointed.

“I want to see hard work out on the floor,” he said before the game. “I want to see you fight. I want to see some intelligence. I want to see players be professional about their approach. … I want to see you busting your (rear) and earning your right to be out on the floor.”

As it turned out, that was pretty much what he got.

“This is the way any NBA team has to play and certainly us,” McMillan said with approval afterward. “We have to play with a lot of energy. We have to play together. We have to scrap and hustle and try to outwork out opponents to give us a chance to win.”

While Lewis was certainly the star, Daniels provided an obvious boost in his first Sonics start. Though his numbers were modest – 13 points, five rebounds, four assists and a steal – his aggressiveness and spirit in the backcourt was the ideal complement to what Lewis was doing up front.

“Tonight we played together on both ends of the floor and that’s the way we should play,” Daniels said. “No one cared who scored. It was good to see, and that’s the way we need to play night in and night out.”

Seattle finished with a big edge in 3-pointers – the Sonics were 11-for-29 while Houston was 3-for-16 – but the Rockets countered with 12 more chances at the free throw line, making five more. The visitors, though, hurt their cause by missing seven free throw attempts in the last five minutes.

Perhaps the game’s most important statistic, though, was Houston’s 24.2 field goal percentage in the second half (8-for-33).

“We were just fed up with losing,” James said, “and knowing that the reason we’re losing is because we weren’t playing good defense. So it feels good to get the monkey of our backs.”