Retooled Sonics Show Signs of Life

<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">Nothing?s been easy for the Seattle SuperSonics this season, even in a game where they shoot nearly 60 percent and lead throughout.
The Sonics, unlike other times in this season of frustration, righted themselves in time Tuesday night for a 114-104 victory over the New Orleans Hornets at KeyArena.

Cruising along on good vibes provided by the debut of newly acquired Earl Watson and some hot shooting, the Sonics opened up a 23-point lead in the third quarter only to watch the Hornets claw back to within three points behind five fourth-quarter 3-pointers by Rasual Butler.

Two weeks ago, that might have been enough to send Seattle to a loss. But on this night, two late Luke Ridnour baskets quashed the comeback and helped the Sonics break a two-game losing streak.

?A different team loses this game, easily,? said Ray Allen, who had a game-high 33 points for Seattle. ?We got some guys who came in and brought some good stuff for us and that helped sustain this game.?

The Sonics got 25 points from Rashard Lewis and a career-high 12 points from Johan Petro. Nick Collison, in his return from baby leave, scored 14. Chris Wilcox again proved valuable, scoring eight points off the bench as the Sonics? offense looked impressive.

But the team?s sizzling shooting that helped open up a big lead almost was its undoing in the fourth quarter when the Sonics settled for jumpers, coach Bob Hill said.

?The first half of the season we would have hung our head when we got down and just give up on the game,? Lewis said. ?Tonight, we didn?t hang our head. We kept fighting and played even harder when they got back into the game.?

The Hornets? rally was fueled by Butler, reserve center Mark Jackson, who scored 19 points, and rookie Chris Paul, who had his 15th double-double of the season. Paul had a team-high 25 points and dished out 14 assists to go with seven rebounds and three steals.

Butler, who had 23 points, capped a 28-10 run to start the fourth quarter with a 3-pointer to make it 99-96 with four minutes, 23 seconds to play. But the Hornets could get no closer and Seattle had its first win against them in three tries this season.

?That was fun for the fans to watch, some of those were acrobatic, off-balance threes that I know full well (Butler) can shoot,? said Hill. ?He got it going but I didn?t think he?d make all of them. Finally he missed a couple and we were able to take advantage, get a stop...

?It?s always good when you can hold off a team when you?ve got to make plays.?

The Sonics made all the plays and all the shots, at least at first.</div>

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