Friday, January 14, 2005
GAME 35: SUPERSONICS 103, WARRIORS 84
SuperSonics 103, Warriors 84
(final content posted ~10:45p)
Here's what I have for tonight's game. Postgame stuff will follow the game stuff as per usual.
1st qtr
11:47 Ridnour drives lane for first basket of game. 9:13 Sonics timeout; they don't know what to do with the spawn of Dunleavy, who has scored all eight Golden State points as they lead 8-2, extended to 10-2 by Claxton free throws. 4:18 Allen drive to contact, layup with foul SG 22-16. 3:53 Allen to Radmanovic driving dunk GS 22-18, followed by a stop and a Daniels to Allen transition layup GS 22-20, 7-0 SEA run. 2:14 Daniels right side from 18 gets Sonics the lead SEA 24-22 (answered). 1:33 Murray three left corner SEA 27-24.
After one quarter -- Golden State 28, Seattle 27
2nd qtr
10:36 Murray beside the top of the key again SEA 31-30. 10:01 Murray explosive move left side for driving layup SEA 33-32. 9:02 Fortson picks up a loose ball on a broken play, lays it in SEA 35-32. 8:10 Daniels baseline drive layup SEA 37-34. 7:28 Fortson draws charge on Derek Fisher. 7:07 Collison gets nice rebound off Murray miss, eventual Fortson basket down low SEA 41-34. 4:35 Allen lays in on nice third-chance play (Collison key board) SEA 45-41. 3:08 great ball movement leads to Ridnour in the left corner SEA 48-43. 2:23 Potapenko gets nice quick layup down low SEA 50-46. 0:58.2 Radmanovic long range right side SEA 52-48, answered.
At halftime -- Golden State 52, Seattle 52
Well, the Sonics shot 57% in the first half, but they obviously aren't defending too well. Keep in mind that Rashard Lewis isn't playing, and therefore isn't drawing any defense toward himself to free up anyone else on the offense.
The game started out weirdly enough. The Sonics got the first basket on a nice Ridnour layup before the Warriors reeled off a 10-0 run, the first eight points of which were scored by Mike Dunleavy, Jr. (12 1st-quarter points), who usually was unguarded as the Sonics couldn't figure out who to put on him. The Sonics played from behind for much of the first quarter before getting on a 7-0 run to eventually get the lead before the end of the first quarter.
The Sonics played in the lead for most of the second quarter before the Warriors were able to tie it before halftime.
The Warriors have gotten 10 offensive boards at the half, and the Sonics have turned the ball over seven times.
Ray Allen leads the Sonics at half with 11 points. Luke Ridnour (who got two quick fouls and sat out for a good length of time) and Ron Murray have 7 (Murray's getting Rashard's minutes). Vlad Radmanovic, Antonio Daniels, and Danny Fortson have six points each. Reggie Evans leads the team in rebounding with 5 to go with his 4 points.
3rd qtr
11:31 Allen three left side to open half SEA 55-52, Allen transition layup off turnover for next possession. 9:36 Troy Murphy called for elbow bringing ball up (he's having a great game though). 9:24 Daniels three right SEA 60-54. 7:59 Speedy Claxton able to slice through the lane on the Sonics at will. 6:58 nice Allen pass down low to Collison for easy layup SEA 62-59. 6:31 Allen three left SEA 65-62. 5:07 Collison in the key pivots, beats the shot clock SEA 68-65, Claxton answers. 4:27 high layup off glass driving for Daniels SEA 70-67. 3:24 Vlad Rad wide-open three SEA 74-67, nice ball movement. 2:43 Daniels straightaway three SEA 77-69, sixth straight Sonic basket. 1:00 Daniels stepback long jumper SEA 79-71. 0:31.7 Murray baseline SEA 81-71, largest lead of game.
After three quarters -- Seattle 81, Golden State 71
The Sonics opened the half really nicely, though the Warriors were still able to claw back since no one was able to stop Speedy Claxton. Luckily the Warriors turned the ball a couple of times and the Sonics managed to hit six straight baskets at one point in the quarter, which got them the bulk of the lead that they carry into the 4th quarter.
4th qtr
8:51 Ridnour finds Murray driving, gets dunk SEA 87-74. 6:16 Sonics leading in pts off turnovers 21-10. 4:25 Murray one-man show nice baseline drive layup under basket SEA 94-80. 3:38 Daniels pull-up midrange SEA 96-80. 2:24 Allen three SEA 101-83 after a loose-ball scramble. 1:10 Fortson outlet for Radmanovic fast-break slam SEA 103-83, it's over.
---
Rashard Lewis was out for the game to begin with, so the Sonics started the three-guard lineup with Luke Ridnour, Antonio Daniels, and Ray Allen. Who got Rashard's minutes? Ron "Flip" Murray got a good share of his minutes, and made up for a good share of the absence of Lewis' production, scoring 17 in 32 minutes of play on 8-for-13 shooting. If Rashard can't come back full-bore whenever he's able to play again, Ron Murray has at least earned himself a good chance for some steady minutes if Rashard Lewis needs to be eased back into the flow of the games here.
You know, one weird thing is that Lewis has been hobbled with the quad bruise and the knee tendinitis -- remember the plantar fasciitis he had in the preseason? That must have healed up really well, because everyone forgot about that pretty quickly. It didn't even pop into my mind tonight until Kevin Calabro talked about one of the Warriors had some sort of plantar fascia injury, and that reminded me of Rashard.
The problem off the bat was that Mike Dunleavy wasn't being guarded, a fire which the Sonics eventually put out -- Dunleavy only scored 2 points after the 12-point outburst in the fourth quarter.
The Sonics didn't have a good first half in terms of taking care of the ball, and they weren't defending too well either. Some of this carried into the second half, as Speedy Claxton was driving into the lane at will and scoring way too much. When the Sonics were finally able to quell the Claxton ruckus, they finally pulled away. Of course, the Sonics hitting six straight baskets at one point in the third quarter also helped. They built up a double-digit lead and the Warriors really never threatened after that.
But it wasn't just quieting down Claxton (or holding down Troy Murphy just enough) that sealed this win for the Sonics. They played their best game defensively in a while, probably since either of the Miami games. They just weren't clicking at all against the Clippers. The Sonics held the Warriors to 84 points tonight, the lowest since they held Atlanta to 79 on December 30th. For the defense, it was a tale of two halves. The Warriors hung in there for the entire first half and the first part of the third quarter. In the first half, the Sonics allowed 52 points. In the second half, they allowed only 32. The Sonics put down the clamps on defense for the first time in a while.
Offensively, the Sonics did well without Rashard Lewis and managed to sink more than half of their shots, with the numbers at the free-throw line being the only slight blemish, as there were a few scattered misses (and fairly sparse attempts).
I'll get to the numbers more in depth after the peek...
PEEK AT THE BOXSCORE
starters
Ray Allen 22 pts/4 ast (9-20 FG, 3-9 3pt), Antonio Daniels 19 pts/5 reb/6 ast (8-14 FG, 2-3 3pt), Luke Ridnour 9 pts/4 reb/6 ast (4-6 FG, 24 min), Reggie Evans 4 pts/10 reb (2-5 FG, 25 min)
bench
Ron Murray 17 pts/6 reb/2 ast (8-13 FG, 32 min), Danny Fortson 13 pts/11 reb (6 offensive rebounds, 3-5 FG, 7-8 free throws, 20 min), Vlad Radmanovic 10 pts/3 reb/2 ast (5-12 FG, 0-4 3pt, 36 min), Nick Collison 5 pts/3 reb (2-4 FG, 15 min), Vitaly Potapenko 2 pts (nice layup, 3 min)
Jerome James Watch
2 pts/1 reb/1 blk (1-3 FG, 6 min)
team
shot 43-for-84 from the field (51.2%), shot 7-for-19 from downtown (36.8%), shot 10-for-15 from the line (66.7%, two of the bricks were Evans'), outrebounded the Warriors 45-34 (and got 15 offensive boards), bench outscored Warrior bench 47-9 (outrebounded their bench 24-8)
I guess I forgot to mention before I looked deep into the boxscore that the Sonics outrebounded the Warriors by 11 tonight. Even if your team has a crappy shooting night, just the fact that you rebounded the ball 11 more times than the other team could probably save you. Of course, the Sonics shot very well tonight, and the rebounding average helped very much.
Sure, Stan Van Gundy was sarcastic in his comment about the Sonics' bench, but they laid a whuppin' on the Golden State bench tonight, and that was even with Antonio Daniels starting and with a so-so night from Radmanovic.
If you look at the Sonics' scoring, it's fairly balanced. Actually, it looks VERY balanced when you compare it to Golden State's scoring. Of course, it goes back to that whole bench thing. The Warriors got next to nothing from their bench, save three blocks from Adonal Foyle (and the Colgate alums rejoiced).
Overall, it started ominously, but the Sonics eventually got their groove and clobbered the Warriors like they should have. They took care of business, they made adjustments, and they got more flow and steadiness from both sides of the ball.
Their reward? Now they get to host LeBron James on Sunday.
I asked Jinkies what he thought the biggest key was in tonight's Sonic win. His reply: "What the MEOW are you talking about?!"
(final content posted ~10:45p)
Here's what I have for tonight's game. Postgame stuff will follow the game stuff as per usual.
1st qtr
11:47 Ridnour drives lane for first basket of game. 9:13 Sonics timeout; they don't know what to do with the spawn of Dunleavy, who has scored all eight Golden State points as they lead 8-2, extended to 10-2 by Claxton free throws. 4:18 Allen drive to contact, layup with foul SG 22-16. 3:53 Allen to Radmanovic driving dunk GS 22-18, followed by a stop and a Daniels to Allen transition layup GS 22-20, 7-0 SEA run. 2:14 Daniels right side from 18 gets Sonics the lead SEA 24-22 (answered). 1:33 Murray three left corner SEA 27-24.
After one quarter -- Golden State 28, Seattle 27
2nd qtr
10:36 Murray beside the top of the key again SEA 31-30. 10:01 Murray explosive move left side for driving layup SEA 33-32. 9:02 Fortson picks up a loose ball on a broken play, lays it in SEA 35-32. 8:10 Daniels baseline drive layup SEA 37-34. 7:28 Fortson draws charge on Derek Fisher. 7:07 Collison gets nice rebound off Murray miss, eventual Fortson basket down low SEA 41-34. 4:35 Allen lays in on nice third-chance play (Collison key board) SEA 45-41. 3:08 great ball movement leads to Ridnour in the left corner SEA 48-43. 2:23 Potapenko gets nice quick layup down low SEA 50-46. 0:58.2 Radmanovic long range right side SEA 52-48, answered.
At halftime -- Golden State 52, Seattle 52
Well, the Sonics shot 57% in the first half, but they obviously aren't defending too well. Keep in mind that Rashard Lewis isn't playing, and therefore isn't drawing any defense toward himself to free up anyone else on the offense.
The game started out weirdly enough. The Sonics got the first basket on a nice Ridnour layup before the Warriors reeled off a 10-0 run, the first eight points of which were scored by Mike Dunleavy, Jr. (12 1st-quarter points), who usually was unguarded as the Sonics couldn't figure out who to put on him. The Sonics played from behind for much of the first quarter before getting on a 7-0 run to eventually get the lead before the end of the first quarter.
The Sonics played in the lead for most of the second quarter before the Warriors were able to tie it before halftime.
The Warriors have gotten 10 offensive boards at the half, and the Sonics have turned the ball over seven times.
Ray Allen leads the Sonics at half with 11 points. Luke Ridnour (who got two quick fouls and sat out for a good length of time) and Ron Murray have 7 (Murray's getting Rashard's minutes). Vlad Radmanovic, Antonio Daniels, and Danny Fortson have six points each. Reggie Evans leads the team in rebounding with 5 to go with his 4 points.
3rd qtr
11:31 Allen three left side to open half SEA 55-52, Allen transition layup off turnover for next possession. 9:36 Troy Murphy called for elbow bringing ball up (he's having a great game though). 9:24 Daniels three right SEA 60-54. 7:59 Speedy Claxton able to slice through the lane on the Sonics at will. 6:58 nice Allen pass down low to Collison for easy layup SEA 62-59. 6:31 Allen three left SEA 65-62. 5:07 Collison in the key pivots, beats the shot clock SEA 68-65, Claxton answers. 4:27 high layup off glass driving for Daniels SEA 70-67. 3:24 Vlad Rad wide-open three SEA 74-67, nice ball movement. 2:43 Daniels straightaway three SEA 77-69, sixth straight Sonic basket. 1:00 Daniels stepback long jumper SEA 79-71. 0:31.7 Murray baseline SEA 81-71, largest lead of game.
After three quarters -- Seattle 81, Golden State 71
The Sonics opened the half really nicely, though the Warriors were still able to claw back since no one was able to stop Speedy Claxton. Luckily the Warriors turned the ball a couple of times and the Sonics managed to hit six straight baskets at one point in the quarter, which got them the bulk of the lead that they carry into the 4th quarter.
4th qtr
8:51 Ridnour finds Murray driving, gets dunk SEA 87-74. 6:16 Sonics leading in pts off turnovers 21-10. 4:25 Murray one-man show nice baseline drive layup under basket SEA 94-80. 3:38 Daniels pull-up midrange SEA 96-80. 2:24 Allen three SEA 101-83 after a loose-ball scramble. 1:10 Fortson outlet for Radmanovic fast-break slam SEA 103-83, it's over.
---
Rashard Lewis was out for the game to begin with, so the Sonics started the three-guard lineup with Luke Ridnour, Antonio Daniels, and Ray Allen. Who got Rashard's minutes? Ron "Flip" Murray got a good share of his minutes, and made up for a good share of the absence of Lewis' production, scoring 17 in 32 minutes of play on 8-for-13 shooting. If Rashard can't come back full-bore whenever he's able to play again, Ron Murray has at least earned himself a good chance for some steady minutes if Rashard Lewis needs to be eased back into the flow of the games here.
You know, one weird thing is that Lewis has been hobbled with the quad bruise and the knee tendinitis -- remember the plantar fasciitis he had in the preseason? That must have healed up really well, because everyone forgot about that pretty quickly. It didn't even pop into my mind tonight until Kevin Calabro talked about one of the Warriors had some sort of plantar fascia injury, and that reminded me of Rashard.
The problem off the bat was that Mike Dunleavy wasn't being guarded, a fire which the Sonics eventually put out -- Dunleavy only scored 2 points after the 12-point outburst in the fourth quarter.
The Sonics didn't have a good first half in terms of taking care of the ball, and they weren't defending too well either. Some of this carried into the second half, as Speedy Claxton was driving into the lane at will and scoring way too much. When the Sonics were finally able to quell the Claxton ruckus, they finally pulled away. Of course, the Sonics hitting six straight baskets at one point in the third quarter also helped. They built up a double-digit lead and the Warriors really never threatened after that.
But it wasn't just quieting down Claxton (or holding down Troy Murphy just enough) that sealed this win for the Sonics. They played their best game defensively in a while, probably since either of the Miami games. They just weren't clicking at all against the Clippers. The Sonics held the Warriors to 84 points tonight, the lowest since they held Atlanta to 79 on December 30th. For the defense, it was a tale of two halves. The Warriors hung in there for the entire first half and the first part of the third quarter. In the first half, the Sonics allowed 52 points. In the second half, they allowed only 32. The Sonics put down the clamps on defense for the first time in a while.
Offensively, the Sonics did well without Rashard Lewis and managed to sink more than half of their shots, with the numbers at the free-throw line being the only slight blemish, as there were a few scattered misses (and fairly sparse attempts).
I'll get to the numbers more in depth after the peek...
PEEK AT THE BOXSCORE
starters
Ray Allen 22 pts/4 ast (9-20 FG, 3-9 3pt), Antonio Daniels 19 pts/5 reb/6 ast (8-14 FG, 2-3 3pt), Luke Ridnour 9 pts/4 reb/6 ast (4-6 FG, 24 min), Reggie Evans 4 pts/10 reb (2-5 FG, 25 min)
bench
Ron Murray 17 pts/6 reb/2 ast (8-13 FG, 32 min), Danny Fortson 13 pts/11 reb (6 offensive rebounds, 3-5 FG, 7-8 free throws, 20 min), Vlad Radmanovic 10 pts/3 reb/2 ast (5-12 FG, 0-4 3pt, 36 min), Nick Collison 5 pts/3 reb (2-4 FG, 15 min), Vitaly Potapenko 2 pts (nice layup, 3 min)
Jerome James Watch
2 pts/1 reb/1 blk (1-3 FG, 6 min)
team
shot 43-for-84 from the field (51.2%), shot 7-for-19 from downtown (36.8%), shot 10-for-15 from the line (66.7%, two of the bricks were Evans'), outrebounded the Warriors 45-34 (and got 15 offensive boards), bench outscored Warrior bench 47-9 (outrebounded their bench 24-8)
I guess I forgot to mention before I looked deep into the boxscore that the Sonics outrebounded the Warriors by 11 tonight. Even if your team has a crappy shooting night, just the fact that you rebounded the ball 11 more times than the other team could probably save you. Of course, the Sonics shot very well tonight, and the rebounding average helped very much.
Sure, Stan Van Gundy was sarcastic in his comment about the Sonics' bench, but they laid a whuppin' on the Golden State bench tonight, and that was even with Antonio Daniels starting and with a so-so night from Radmanovic.
If you look at the Sonics' scoring, it's fairly balanced. Actually, it looks VERY balanced when you compare it to Golden State's scoring. Of course, it goes back to that whole bench thing. The Warriors got next to nothing from their bench, save three blocks from Adonal Foyle (and the Colgate alums rejoiced).
Overall, it started ominously, but the Sonics eventually got their groove and clobbered the Warriors like they should have. They took care of business, they made adjustments, and they got more flow and steadiness from both sides of the ball.
Their reward? Now they get to host LeBron James on Sunday.
I asked Jinkies what he thought the biggest key was in tonight's Sonic win. His reply: "What the MEOW are you talking about?!"
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