Details: Who: <font color="DarkGreen">Seattle Sonics</font> (7-5) vs <font color="Indigo">Utah Jazz</font>(8-6) Where: Delta Centre When: Fri, Nov 28th, 6pm TV: Kong Projected Lineups: <font color="DarkGreen">Seattle</font> PG: Brent Barry/Antonio Daniels/Luke Ridnour SG: Ronald Murray/Brent Barry/Richie Frahm SF: Ansu Sesay/Vladimir Radmanovic PF: Vladimir Radmanovic/Reggie Evans/Vitaly Potapenko C: Calvin Booth/Vitaly Potapenko/Jerome James Coached by Nate McMillan <font color="Indigo">Utah</font> PG: Raul Lopez/Maurice Williams SG: DeShawn Stevenson/Raja Bell SF: Matt Harpring/Aleksandar Pavlovic/Andrei Kirilenko PF: Andrei Kirilenko/Curtis Borchart C: Greg Ostertag/Jarron Collins Coached by Jerry Sloan <font color="DarkGreen">Sonic Injury List:</font> Ray Allen: ankle, expected to miss 2-4 more weeks. Nick Collison: shoulder, season. Other: Rashard Lewis: Family death, indefinite. <font color="Indigo">Jazz Injury List</font> Keon Clark: bone spurs, 12 weeks, on IL. Michael Ruffin: on IL. Carlos Arroyo, knee, 2 weeks. Analysis: Two of the early season surprise packets, both Utah and Seattle come into this game on mixed fortunes. The Jazz come in fresh off a gusty win over Houston, without Carlos Arroyo. The Sonics come in off the back of a shocking performance against the Nets and without star forward Rashard Lewis, due to his brother's death. This is certainly not the lead-up they want to a place they haven't won at in the last seven attempts. The Sonics have more talent, but do they have as much heart as Jerry Sloan's men? Key Factor: Brent Barry and Ronald Murray. Without Arroyo and without Lewis, these two guys will have to pick up the slack. Brent Barry has the experience over effectively two rookies at the point, and he should assert this at every opportunity, posting up and looking to get screens for open perimeter jumpers. Murray is capable of putting up big numbers on Stevenson, but defensive specialist Raja Bell will provide a real test. Luke Ridnour seems to be ahead of Antonio Daniels in the rotation, but either could get minutes here. Either way, it's Seattle's backcourt that will need to gain an advantage early over their inexperienced Jazz guard rotation. Key Matchup: Vladimir Radmanovic vs Andrei Kirilenko Both these guys are key factors for their respective franchise's good starts, and both are having breakout years. Kirilenko is a menace on on the defensive end, and will provide a tough opponent for Radmanovic who is able to match his inside/out game. At the other end, Radmanovic is the perfect match up for Kirilenko. He went against and beat a similar player in Pau Gasol a week ago, and Kirilenko's thin frame and crafty inside game will suit Radmanovic's defensive style. X-Factors: Seattle Ansu Sesay - A former NBDL MVP, Sesay will likely be called in to start in Lewis' place as he is Seattle's best on ball defender. Sesay will likely go head to head with Matt Harpring, and will give him a tough time and make him earn every point and rebound he gets. On the other end, Sesay isn't a big threat but at the same time Harpring will have to watch him, as he can score in quick bunches. <font color="Indigo">Utah</font> Greg Ostertag - Having a decent year, the huge Ostertag will look to take advantage of Seattle's weak middle and monster the boards and the keyway. When Ostertag puts the effort in, he can be a man mountain in the middle defensively, and has a knack for grabbing offensive boards and creating second chance points.
Utah showed last night, that they are practically unbeatable in the Delta Center. They play their best basketball in that arena. Shooting will be key tonight for the Sonics if they hope to win. Last night the Jazz defense held the Rockets to shooting 33.3%. For Seattle to have a chance against the Jazz, I think they have to shoot at least 42% from the field. Even though Ronald Murray is playing the best basketball in his life, not having Ray Allen and Rashard Lewis will hurt the Sonics. Vladimir Radmanovic will have to have a huge game on the defensive side tonight as he takes on the Jazz phenom, Andrei Kirilenko. Just for the fact that they are playing in the Delta Center, I have to give the Jazz the nod in this game.
