Opponent: Dallas Mavericks
When: 5:30 p.m. Tuesday
Where: American Airlines Center, Dallas
TV: KONG (Ch. 6/16)
Radio: KJR (950 AM)
McMillan shuffled his lineup for Sunday’s game, moving Calvin Booth to the starting lineup for Vitaly Potapenko, who was late for a Sunday morning shootaround. Potapenko had also missed an entire practice in Miami on March 11 and been late other times, said Sonics coach Nate McMillan, prompting the disciplinary move.
Reggie Evans was also late for the Sunday practice, but since it was his first offense this season he kept his starting spot.
Potapenko, McMillan said, “has been late enough.”
Both players drew team fines, believed to be $500.
Quiet crowd: Though the game was officially a sellout because of tickets sold, there were a several thousand less than 17,072 fans at Sunday’s game.
Not only were there missing bodies, there was missing noise. The atmosphere was much less electric than Friday night’s meeting with the Los Angeles Lakers – a defeat that mathematically eliminated the Sonics from the playoffs.
Against the Hornets, said Seattle’s Ray Allen, “the building was totally different. I told all the guys before the game that a lot was lost when we lost the last game. It’s strange because I thought we played pretty well in the first half, but there just wasn’t any atmosphere in the building tonight.”
Playing time: Keeping to his word from the day before, McMillan moved guard Luke Ridnour up in the rotation, giving him the backup minutes at point guard in place of Antonio Daniels. Ridnour, a rookie and one of Seattle’s two 2003 first-round draft picks, played 19 minutes and finished with seven points and five assists.
The idea, McMillan said, is “just to let him get out there and do his thing. Give him an opportunity to run the offense and basically just see what he can do. Just let him play.”
Because Ridnour had not played in six games, “defensively, he got a little winded,” McMillan added. “He also had some shots he normally knocks down, but I think that’ll come.
“I think Luke has confidence. He’s a guy who believes in himself. He doesn’t lack confidence in his ability at all.”
Daniels, meanwhile, did not play.
Big on the boards: Evans led the Sonics with 12 rebounds in 24 minutes, and also did a nice job defensively on Hornets center Jamaal Magliore, an Eastern Conference All-Star. Magliore finished with 17 points, high for New Orleans, but only managed six field goal attempts.
“I love Reggie’s energy,” McMillan said. “His scrapping is something this team needs. His style of play is, to me, winning basketball. He gives up his body for the game and that type of play is exactly what we need to have out on the floor. We started him on Magliore tonight and he was physical. He really set the tone defensively for us.”
Short shots: Booth tied his season high with 12 points. … Seattle’s 23-point lead through three quarters was its largest of the season. … The Sonics finished with a decisive 44-28 margin in points in the paint. … Former Sonic Shammond Williams scored 14 points off the bench and added five assists for New Orleans.
Rich Myhre
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