SEATTLE – It’s over. Finito. Archives.
The Sonics may lead the Sacramento Kings just 2-0 in their best-of-seven series, but the Kings are done after Tuesday night’s 105-93 Seattle victory.
It took two games for the Sonics to establish themselves as the better team, and better by a long shot. Sacramento may steal a split at home in Games 3 and 4, but this baby’s history.
The Sonics have figured the Kings out. They’re aggressive, confident and unyielding.
The Kings are confused, befuddled and frustrated.
And ultimately, beaten.
“You gotta compete,” a wide-eyed Kings coach Rick Adelman said. “You’ve got to push and shove under the boards. The playoffs are going to be more physical. They were the aggressors and were more physical.”
The Sonics won’t admit it’s over, of course. They were spewing the same, tired postgame cliches about taking it one game at a time and that they have to win four.
But this is the Roadrunner streaking away from Wile E. Coyote, and then watching through binoculars as the baffled coyote lets his jaw bounce on the desert floor.
The Sonics are getting contributions from everywhere, from the likely (Ray Allen, who was simply lethal) to the most unlikely (Jerome James, who’s looking more like Marvin Webster by the hour).
In the meantime, Sacramento is getting zippo from too many on whom the Kings heavily rely. Peja Stojakovic was 3-for-10 from the floor. Kenny Thomas and Brad Miller had six points apiece. Cuttino Mobley, who scored 22 points in Game 1, finished with nine in Game 2.
On the other hand, Allen scored a game-high 26 points and dished out six assists. But then, we’re used to that.
After a career game in the series opener (17 points, 15 rebounds, five blocked shots), James continued being the guy the Kings never accounted for. He made all five of his shots, grabbed four rebounds and blocked a shot in 12 minutes of playing time in the first half.
James finished with 19 points, nine rebounds and a block. He was 9-of-11 from the floor.
“Jerome is the one guy they’re not double-teaming,” Sonics coach Nate McMillan said. “They’re double-teaming Ray and Rashard (Lewis). Jerome is doing a nice job of taking advantage.”
Vladimir Radmanovic, in his second game back after missing the last 19 of the regular season with a stress fracture, scored 10 points on 5-of-8 shooting. Six came in the first quarter, when he buried three of four shots for six points in four minutes.
The Kings front line couldn’t keep Reggie Evans off the boards. After grabbing 15 rebounds Saturday night, Evans followed up with eight Tuesday night.
Playing before his college coach, Roy Williams, Nick Collison erupted with hustle points. He finished with eight points and eight rebounds, but his biggest contributions came in tapping missed shots to teammates, setting Berlin Wall screens and running the floor on the fast break.
The third quarter may have shown the Sonics at their best. In breaking away from a 55-44 halftime lead, the Sonics shot 11-of-19 from the floor to Sacramento’s 8-of-22 in a 33-18 spanking.
But the real difference was the way in which the Sonics pounded the middle and came away with at least free throws. Seattle was 10-for-11 at the line; the Kings 1-for-1.
In the frame, a frustrated Miller fouled James in the third quarter, responded to the call with the most vile of obscenities, was slapped with a technical foul and continued to whine for the rest of the game.
Although Mike Bibby was much better than Saturday night’s 1-for-16 shooting disaster from the floor, he couldn’t keep the Kings’ offense from sputtering to 42-percent shooting from the floor.
The Sonics are more physical, more efficient and smarter. McMillan said before the game that the pan was simple: get defensive stops and make offensive plays. It’s happened in the first two games.
This still isn’t the shootout many predicted, primarily because of the Sonics’ defense. Not only are they mightily challenging Sacramento each possession, they also are ending the Kings’ possessions via superior board strength.
A track meet, certainly, would fall in favor of the Kings. Seattle is slowing down the Kings by its offensive patience, which boosts the shooting percentage, which cuts down on turnovers, which prevents Sacramento from running its fast break.
Forget Sacramento’s late run in the fourth quarter. One quarter of decent play can’t erase three quarters of ineptitude.
It won’t take long for the Sonics to move on.
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