Preview Details: Who: <font color="SeaGreen">Seattle Sonics</font> (12-13) vs <font color="Indigo">Phoenix Suns</font>(10-18) Where: Key Arena When: Tues, Dec 23rd, 7pm TV: KONG Projected Lineups: <font color="SeaGreen">Seattle</font> PG: Antonio Daniels/Luke Ridnour SG: Ronald Murray/Ray Allen/Richie Frahm SF: Rashard Lewis/Ansu Sesay/Vladimir Radmanovic PF: Vladimir Radmanovic/Reggie Evans/Vitaly Potapenko C: Jerome James/Calvin Booth/Vitaly Potapenko Coached by Nate McMillan <font color="Indigo">Phoenix</font> PG: Stephon Marbury/Leandro Barbosa/ Anfernee Hardaway SG: Joe Johnson/Anfernee Hardaway/Casey Jacobsen SF: Shawn Marion/Joe Johnson PF: Scott Williams/Tom Gugliotta C: Jahidi White/Jake Voskuhl Coached by Mike D'Antoni <font color="SeaGreen">Sonic Injury List:</font> Nick Collison: shoulder, season. Brent Barry: strained left hip flexor, doubtful. <font color="Indigo">Sun Injury List</font> Amare Stoudemire: sprained left ankle, on IL. Zarko Cabarkapa: fractued right wrist, on IL. Analysis: Seattle come into this one hoping to avenge Shawn Marion's alley-oop score to beat them at the buzzer last week, and will want to heap even more misery on Phoenix's disasterous season. The big story here is the return of superstar and franchise player, Ray Allen. While Allen may not start, due to the form of Murray, Ridnour and Frahm, but to have him back on the floor alone will be a relief for the Sonics, and the questionable status of Brent Barry and Antonio Daniels should ensure Allen gets minutes right away. Phoenix will want this one badly as they try and get their season back on track heading into the new year, and Seattle are anything but unbeatable at home. <font size="4">"That's an All-Star over there. Anything he can give, we'll take it. It should help everybody else just seeing him on the floor. He's a big part of what we want to do."</font> - Seattle coach Nate McMillan on the impending return of star Ray Allen. Key Factor: Both teams have weakened frontcourts, and it will likely come down the the battle of the backcourts. Phoenix's Joe Johnson has scored double figures in his last 8 games, whilst we all know what Marbury can do. Penny Hardaway will always be a valuable contributor at either guard position, rookie Leandro Barbosa has shown he is a capable player at this level, whilst Casey Jacobsen has established himself as one of the league's premier outside shooters. The backcourt however is where Seattle shine, and it is where they will get the win if successful. Even without Barry, Daniels has been very good of late, Murray and Frahm are coming off their best games for the year against Denver, and Luke Ridnour is surprising a lot of people with his play. Throw in Ray Allen, and a Sonic boom from the backcourt should deliver a victory. Key Matchup: Rashard Lewis vs Shawn Marion Lewis had a monster game against Marion last week, but it was Marion who got the winning basket, and you can bet Seattle would rather Lewis struggles in a win than dominates in a loss. Hasn't hit 20 since the Phoenix game, it is a strak contrast to Marion, who has been absolutely dominating the past fortnight, albeit without much help from his teammates. Lewis often has the better of Marion, and it is important for him to score directly on Marion early to give him some confidence. As for Marion, his best chance of beating Lewis is to post him up and use his superior body strength, and crashing the boards is a must, especially on the offensive end. X-Factors: <font color="SeaGreen">Seattle</font> Ray Allen - not in shape and severely lacking match practice, Allen will likely play 20-25 minutes off the bench as McMillan tries to blood him back into the rotation. Whilst not at 100%, you can't take class out of a player, and he could be the gamebreaker off of the bench. <font color="Indigo">Phoenix</font> Casey Jacobsen - is often the beneficiary of defenses focusing on Marion, Marbury, Penny and Johnson, Jacobsen is shooting 42% from beyond the arc this season. If he gets hot, then Seattle can't afford to give him space, which in turn may free up Phoenix's bigger names.
I don't know who will take this one. ????? I say the Sonics will take this by 2. And I see that Allen's back It's going to be intersting seeing him come back from an injury. Sonics should take this one with Amare out but it's still going to be a close one
Finally Ray is returning to the Sonics line-up.Saw a recent interview on foxsports and he basically said he doesn't know yet what kind of minutes he will get.He said he could start or just play a limited role.Either way it is good to see him back.
Ray Allen scores the game-winning buzzer-beater alley-oop at the buzzer over Shawn Marion I think the Suns will have it very difficult without Stoudemire who, if he was healthy, able to do some damage on Radmanovic and James... I think that Flip will try to work him in the spotlight 'cause Ray's back tonight and within a few games Murray will certainly start as a sixth man... So maybe he want to show McMillan that he's in great shape and maybe wants to take Barry's starting spot when Brent comes back...
Halftime, 53-48 Seattle, Marbury hit a three 3 on the buzzer. Ray did start, and has 14 and 4 assists, on 5-8 shooting, at the half. "Shard has 8 and 6 boards, Flip has 9 and AD has 6, 2 and 3. Third quarters are our problems, hopefully we can rectify this waith Ray back.
Seattle 116 Phoenix 90 Ray Allen ensured Seattle would have a very merry Christmas. Allen, in his first game for the season, posted 24 points and 7 assists in only 23 minutes, as the Sonics used a gigantic second half to heap more misery on the Phoenix Suns, 116 to 90. Allen started and shot 8-13, including 4 treys, and showed little ill-effect from a long layoff that had Allen himself complaining of his lack of adequate fitness. However, tonight was a game of many contributions, as Nate McMillan enjoyed having six players score in double figures, and another with eight. This included Luke Ridnour, who posted 11 and 7 assists in his second start, but sparked Seattle's big third quarter with his blinding pace and court vision, repeatedly finding his teammates for quick baskets, and importantly comitting only a single turnover. For the second time this season, Rashard Lewis had a big game on star Shawn Marion, posting 22 and 13, including 8 in the pivotal third period. Ron Murray continued to stake his claim as instant offense off the bench, with 17 on 8-13 shooting, and four thefts. Jerome James was the beneficiary of Ridnour's passing, finishing with 11, 6 and 4 blocks, with only a single foul in 21 minutes, while Antonio Daniels returned from missing the Denver win with 10, 3 and 3 off the bench. Calvin Booth continued his solid play this season with 8 points, 3 rebounds and 3 blocks. For Phoenix, valuable contributions were few and far between. Marion ensured his battle with Lewis would be worth watching and hard fought, as he put 19 and 12 on the board to be the Suns' best. Joe Johnson was very impressive with 21, 6 and 8, while Marbury endured a exciting battle with Ridnour, with 17, 5 and 4. Casey Jacobsen had 10 off of the bench, but much was in garbage time. This is the sort of performance Sonic fans get frustrated at; they know how Seattle are capable of playing, yet it doesn't happen nearly often enough. They stayed hot throughout, shooting 56% and knocking down 11 treys, most of this this result of quick and efficient ball movement, which the Suns couldn't handle. Seattle used a 28-20 first period to set up the game, and then a 34-20 third period (including a 21-6 run), which ended any resistance Phoenix had after winning the second. The Suns did not lead at any point in the game, something that will give coach McMillan, like every Seattle fan, a Merry Christmas. Box Score <font size="1">courtesy of NBA.com.</font> Next Game: vs Timberwolves, Sat Dec 27th, 7pm. <font size="4"><font color="Red">MERRY CHRISTMAS </font> <font color="Green">SONIC FANS!</font></font>
