After a couple of below par games, Rashard Lewis delivered in the clutch. Lewis iced 2 freethrows with 8 seconds remaining, and then watched sophomore guard Juan Dixon miss a potential overtime forcing trey to hand the Sonics their first home win in four. All of Seattle's points, bar 4, were scored by their big four of Murray, Radmanovic, Lewis and Barry in a game that signalled Lewis' return from a slump, and continued Radmanovic's rise as a clutch player. Trailing 78-77, Radmanovic scored 7 points in the space of two minutes to give Seattle an 84-80 lead heading into the final couple of minutes to set up the victory against a gutsy Wizards side. Radmanovic was the star of the show for the Sonics, posting 25, 7 and 3 on 10-19 shooting, including 4-8 from downtown. Flip Murray continued his hot season with 21 and 6 dimes, whilst Lewis had 24, 5 and 5. Brent Barry won the battle with the younger Gilbert Arenas with 14 on efficient 5-7 shooting, 5 boards and 7 assists, once more underlining his credentials as one of the best all round guards in the league. Reggie Evans and Calvin Booth were the other valuable contributors for the Sonics, Evans posting 8 rebounds in 25 minutes off the pine and Booth blocking 6 shots. For Washington, Kwame Brown showed glimpses of his talent with 17 and 6, whilst Juan Dixon added a quickfire 17 off the bench. Larry Hughes had 11 and 7 whilst fouling out in the last minute, and Gilbert Arenas posted 15, 7 and 4, but shot an ugly 6-20. Seattle shot the ball a lot better than Washington, especially from behind the arc where they nailed 10-22 to Washington's 7-20. The Wizard's outrebounded the Sonics 47-39, something that played a part in them reeling in an 18 point deficit, whilst Seattle had 24 assists to 12. The Wizards endured a shocking first half by scoring only 24 points, but rectified this with big third and fourth periods whilch almost allowed them to snatch the win. http://www.nba.com/games/20031123/WASSEA/boxscore.html Next Game: vs Nets, Tues Nov 25, 7pm
yeaaa...I was getting worried when they were outscored by the Washingtons by 5. Let's see what's going down next game--tomorrow. 7 PT (10 ET), 9 Central.
