Tuesday, January 25, 2005
GAME 40: SUPERSONICS 104, LAKERS 93
SuperSonics 104, Lakers 93
(final content posted ~10:56p)
Here's what I've got for tonight's tilt. Of course, this tilt is better than that ESPN series. Postgame thoughts are below the in-game stuff, as per usual.
1st qtr
10:43 Ray Allen off a screen for first Sonic basket LAK 5-2. 8:23 Seattle timeout, LAK 9-2...nothing at all offensively; Sonics open up 1-for-8 from the field. 7:10 Lewis baby hook in lane low LAK 11-4. 6:25 fastbreak Ridnour to Lewis alleyoop LAK 11-6. 5:23 Radmanovic three LAK 13-9, answered by Odom drive foul and one on Radmanovic. 4:39 Allen transition three LAK 16-12, answered by Atkins three. 3:10 Daniels long alleyoop layup (pass from halfcourt) LAK 19-16, Lakers timeout. 1:39 turnaround fallaway Allen LAK 21-18.
After one quarter -- Lakers 28, SuperSonics 20
It was a quarter of absolutely stagnant offense for the Sonics as they started out 1-for-10. Other than the short span where they got within three (a couple of fast-break baskets), they couldn't get anything going. They couldn't seem to find any sort of flow while in the halfcourt sets. Meanwhile, Craig Ehlo keeps pointing out that the Lakers are terrible at defending the pick-and-roll (David Locke is probably saying the same thing right now on the radio side), so the Sonics should be running that play more often. As for rebounding, the Sonics are behind 16-13 after one, and they've been burned by a couple of very disturbing Laker tip-jams. The Sonics shot 7-for-24 from the field (29%) and 2-for-11 from three (18%).
2nd qtr
11:12 Collison nice turn and shoot LAK 28-24 top of key. 10:33 Allen across baseline to Fortson down low LAK 30-26. 9:30 Nice ball movement, Collison found down low and fouled, hits two LAK 30-28. 8:56 Radmanovic three LAK 33-31. 7:11 Radmanovic driving layup TIE 35-35 (second tie), answered by Walton down low. 6:40 Radmanovic three SEA 38-37. 5:10 Fortson cleans up Lewis miss to beat shot clock SEA 40-39, answered by Grant getting his own miss. 3:42 Lewis hook low again SEA 42-41. 3:02 Radmanovic three again after great ball movement SEA 45-44, answered by Jones three. 2:10 Ridnour splitting defenders, hitting driving layup SEA 48-47. 1:49 Daniels coast-to-coast SEA 50-47. 0:05.9 Allen finds Lewis low off a pick, slam SEA 53-51. 0:00.7 Allen three after Sonics force a walk SEA 57-51.
After one half -- SuperSonics 57, Lakers 51.
The Sonics went on a 6-0 run in the final minute of the half, and closed the half on a 12-4 run. They definitely found some rhythm, and had some great ball movement. Once the Sonics managed to tie the game for the first time, the lead changed hands six times. How did the Sonics hang with the Lakers and eventually get a decent lead? Just the usual -- rebounding the Lakers' misses, forcing a couple turnovers on the Lakers, and then moving the ball some, running their offense, and sinking more of their shots than the Lakers did. The Sonics shot 29% in the first quarter and 58% in the second quarter.
Ray Allen leads the Sonics with 15 at the half. Vladimir Radmanovic has 14, Rashard Lewis has 12. Luke Ridnour, Antonio Daniels, Danny Fortson, and Nick Collison each have 4 points. Fortson saw 9 minutes of play in the half, and looked like he hasn't lost much after riding a good deal of pine over the last couple games.
On the rebounding front, the Sonics are outrebounding the Lakers at half by one, 22-21. Eight of the Sonics' rebounds are on the offensive end.
3rd qtr
10:06 Lewis three after Collison misses dunk SEA 62-54. 9:23 Ridnour fastbreak running one-hander SEA 64-56. 8:46 Ridnour right the Cousy-style runner SEA 66-58. 8:11 Collison grabs the Allen miss and lays in SEA 68-60. 5:53 Lewis driving layin off Evans offensive board (crowd groaned after Evans board) SEA 70-62. 3:24 Radmanovic over Grant three SEA 75-63. 1:28 Allen three with a shooter's roll SEA 80-65. 0:38.3 Radmanovic three (6-for-8 from downtown) again SEA 83-68.
After three quarters -- SuperSonics 83, Lakers 68
That was a great quarter of Sonic basketball. Sure, they scored 37 in the second quarter and scored 26 in the third, but what made the third quarter great was how well the Sonics did on the defensive end as they held the Lakers to 17 points. They got Lamar Odom ticked off, and he didn't have a single rebound in the third quarter after grabbing 11 in the first half.
In a related story, Vladimir Radmanovic is out of his freakin' mind tonight. He's a mere 6-for-8 from beyond the arc after three quarters of play.
The other key to the third quarter was Reggie Evans getting roughly one billion rebounds on the offensive glass. This resulted him in getting a ton of minutes. He has 10 rebounds after three quarters.
4th qtr
10:48 Vlade three SEA 86-72. 10:16 Vlade off the inbound three SEA 89-72. 9:41 Fortson offensive rebound, lays in SEA 91-72. 8:02 Lewis running righty SEA 93-75. 6:46 Ridnour running layup again SEA 95-78. 3:41 Allen wears down the shot clock, pops three SEA 98-82. 1:27 Kutluay in, it's officially garbage time.
Final -- SuperSonics 104, Lakers 93
Vladimir Radmanovic was one three-pointer away from tying the Sonics' franchise record for threes in a game, which was set by Dale Ellis on April 20th of 1990 against the Clippers. The dude was absolutely nuts tonight. He also chased down his share of loose balls as well.
What I'm most jazzed about is the Sonics' defense in the third quarter, and most of the fourth quarter (the Lakers got a few more baskets after the Sonics were busy trying to get Radmanovic that last three). The Sonics hadn't held an opponent to under 100 points since the Cleveland game nine days ago (four games ago). Lamar Odom had 11 boards in the first half and only got one rebound in the second half. That in itself says a lot.
It was also an incredible day on the boards, spearheaded by Reggie Evans grabbing a gazillion offensive boards, and by Fortson having his presence felt for the first time in a few games. It was good to have him back.
The Sonics found Nick Collison a few times down low, and he easily would have broken double figures tonight if he would have been able to finish a couple more of his shots. I remember him bricking a dunk and blowing an easy layup down low. I'm not getting on his case, I'm just saying his totals would have been better tonight if he would have put away the easy shots.
Completely unrelated, but I'm becoming a big fan of Luke Ridnour's smooth running layups.
Oh yeah, Rashard Lewis and Ray Allen did their thing, scoring over 20 points like they normally do.
PEEK AT THE BOXSCORE
starters
Ray Allen 25 pts/4 reb/4 ast/2 stl (8-18 FG, 4-9 3pt, 5-5 free throws, 35 min), Rashard Lewis 21 pts/5 reb (9-23 FG, 1-6 3pt, 2-2 free throws), Luke Ridnour 10 pts/3 reb/7 ast (5-13 FG), Reggie Evans 0 pts/3 ast/13 reb (23 min)
bench
Vladimir Radmanovic 26 pts/5 reb/2 stl (9-17 FG, 8-14 3pt), Danny Fortson 10 pts/9 reb (3-5 FG, 4-4 free throws, 19 min), Nick Collison 8 pts/5 reb (3-7 FG, 19 min), Antonio Daniels 4 pts/2 reb/5 ast/2 stl (1-6 FG, 27 min)
Jerome James Watch
0 pts/2 reb (0-2 FG, 3 fouls, 1 turnover, 6 min)
team
shot 38-for-93 (40.9%) from the field, shot 13-for-33 (39.4%) from downtown, shot 15-for-15 (100%) from the free-throw line, outrebounded the Lakers 48-36 (Sonics had 20 offensive boards), turned the ball over only 9 times, bench outscored Laker bench 48-32 (outrebounded them 21-7), point guards dish out 12 assists and only 2 turnovers
The Sonics really didn't shoot in a blistering fashion in this game or anything. Fifteen combined offensive rebounds from Evans, Fortson, and Collison (20 for the whole team) sure help the cause of getting more shots, however.
After the Sonics went 1-for-10 to start the game, it looked a bit bleak, but then they eventually found their shot, and Vladimir started hitting a couple of threes here and there. Then the Sonics threw the hammer down on defense in the third quarter, and that pretty much sealed the game. The 28-point first quarter for the Lakers was abysmal. The 23-point second quarter reflected better on the Sonic defense, but it was pure brilliance when the Sonics held the Lakers to 17 in the third quarter. Calabro and Ehlo both pointed out that one reason the Sonics were able to corral Lamar Odom in the second half was thanks to some zone defense. Odom had 9 points and 11 boards in the first half. Though he did manage to score 10 more points in the second half, he was able to grab only three more rebounds.
Though they didn't shoot overly well, the only truly off-night for any Sonic shooter tonight was Antonio Daniels with his 1-for-6. The rest of the team more than picked up for this. Of course, eight three-pointers from Radmanovic helps make the Sonics' 40.9% shooting night look a little better.
I won't harp on the Sonics' only getting 15 free throws tonight, in part because they did go to the rack on occasion, in part because they were getting so many offensive rebounds that they were going to eventually set up the right shot and hit it, and in part because they didn't miss on any of the 15 tries. This of course coincides with Reggie Evans not getting to the line once.
I asked Jinkies how the Sonics should prepare themselves for the altitude (well, 4222 feet) and the tough task of going into Utah on the back end of a back-to-back set. His reply: "Do you kiss your mother and father with that filth-covered mouth?"
I didn't think Jinkies had that in him. I surely thought he was out of unique replies. Alas, he is not. There was unbridled joy at Casa de David.
(final content posted ~10:56p)
Here's what I've got for tonight's tilt. Of course, this tilt is better than that ESPN series. Postgame thoughts are below the in-game stuff, as per usual.
1st qtr
10:43 Ray Allen off a screen for first Sonic basket LAK 5-2. 8:23 Seattle timeout, LAK 9-2...nothing at all offensively; Sonics open up 1-for-8 from the field. 7:10 Lewis baby hook in lane low LAK 11-4. 6:25 fastbreak Ridnour to Lewis alleyoop LAK 11-6. 5:23 Radmanovic three LAK 13-9, answered by Odom drive foul and one on Radmanovic. 4:39 Allen transition three LAK 16-12, answered by Atkins three. 3:10 Daniels long alleyoop layup (pass from halfcourt) LAK 19-16, Lakers timeout. 1:39 turnaround fallaway Allen LAK 21-18.
After one quarter -- Lakers 28, SuperSonics 20
It was a quarter of absolutely stagnant offense for the Sonics as they started out 1-for-10. Other than the short span where they got within three (a couple of fast-break baskets), they couldn't get anything going. They couldn't seem to find any sort of flow while in the halfcourt sets. Meanwhile, Craig Ehlo keeps pointing out that the Lakers are terrible at defending the pick-and-roll (David Locke is probably saying the same thing right now on the radio side), so the Sonics should be running that play more often. As for rebounding, the Sonics are behind 16-13 after one, and they've been burned by a couple of very disturbing Laker tip-jams. The Sonics shot 7-for-24 from the field (29%) and 2-for-11 from three (18%).
2nd qtr
11:12 Collison nice turn and shoot LAK 28-24 top of key. 10:33 Allen across baseline to Fortson down low LAK 30-26. 9:30 Nice ball movement, Collison found down low and fouled, hits two LAK 30-28. 8:56 Radmanovic three LAK 33-31. 7:11 Radmanovic driving layup TIE 35-35 (second tie), answered by Walton down low. 6:40 Radmanovic three SEA 38-37. 5:10 Fortson cleans up Lewis miss to beat shot clock SEA 40-39, answered by Grant getting his own miss. 3:42 Lewis hook low again SEA 42-41. 3:02 Radmanovic three again after great ball movement SEA 45-44, answered by Jones three. 2:10 Ridnour splitting defenders, hitting driving layup SEA 48-47. 1:49 Daniels coast-to-coast SEA 50-47. 0:05.9 Allen finds Lewis low off a pick, slam SEA 53-51. 0:00.7 Allen three after Sonics force a walk SEA 57-51.
After one half -- SuperSonics 57, Lakers 51.
The Sonics went on a 6-0 run in the final minute of the half, and closed the half on a 12-4 run. They definitely found some rhythm, and had some great ball movement. Once the Sonics managed to tie the game for the first time, the lead changed hands six times. How did the Sonics hang with the Lakers and eventually get a decent lead? Just the usual -- rebounding the Lakers' misses, forcing a couple turnovers on the Lakers, and then moving the ball some, running their offense, and sinking more of their shots than the Lakers did. The Sonics shot 29% in the first quarter and 58% in the second quarter.
Ray Allen leads the Sonics with 15 at the half. Vladimir Radmanovic has 14, Rashard Lewis has 12. Luke Ridnour, Antonio Daniels, Danny Fortson, and Nick Collison each have 4 points. Fortson saw 9 minutes of play in the half, and looked like he hasn't lost much after riding a good deal of pine over the last couple games.
On the rebounding front, the Sonics are outrebounding the Lakers at half by one, 22-21. Eight of the Sonics' rebounds are on the offensive end.
3rd qtr
10:06 Lewis three after Collison misses dunk SEA 62-54. 9:23 Ridnour fastbreak running one-hander SEA 64-56. 8:46 Ridnour right the Cousy-style runner SEA 66-58. 8:11 Collison grabs the Allen miss and lays in SEA 68-60. 5:53 Lewis driving layin off Evans offensive board (crowd groaned after Evans board) SEA 70-62. 3:24 Radmanovic over Grant three SEA 75-63. 1:28 Allen three with a shooter's roll SEA 80-65. 0:38.3 Radmanovic three (6-for-8 from downtown) again SEA 83-68.
After three quarters -- SuperSonics 83, Lakers 68
That was a great quarter of Sonic basketball. Sure, they scored 37 in the second quarter and scored 26 in the third, but what made the third quarter great was how well the Sonics did on the defensive end as they held the Lakers to 17 points. They got Lamar Odom ticked off, and he didn't have a single rebound in the third quarter after grabbing 11 in the first half.
In a related story, Vladimir Radmanovic is out of his freakin' mind tonight. He's a mere 6-for-8 from beyond the arc after three quarters of play.
The other key to the third quarter was Reggie Evans getting roughly one billion rebounds on the offensive glass. This resulted him in getting a ton of minutes. He has 10 rebounds after three quarters.
4th qtr
10:48 Vlade three SEA 86-72. 10:16 Vlade off the inbound three SEA 89-72. 9:41 Fortson offensive rebound, lays in SEA 91-72. 8:02 Lewis running righty SEA 93-75. 6:46 Ridnour running layup again SEA 95-78. 3:41 Allen wears down the shot clock, pops three SEA 98-82. 1:27 Kutluay in, it's officially garbage time.
Final -- SuperSonics 104, Lakers 93
Vladimir Radmanovic was one three-pointer away from tying the Sonics' franchise record for threes in a game, which was set by Dale Ellis on April 20th of 1990 against the Clippers. The dude was absolutely nuts tonight. He also chased down his share of loose balls as well.
What I'm most jazzed about is the Sonics' defense in the third quarter, and most of the fourth quarter (the Lakers got a few more baskets after the Sonics were busy trying to get Radmanovic that last three). The Sonics hadn't held an opponent to under 100 points since the Cleveland game nine days ago (four games ago). Lamar Odom had 11 boards in the first half and only got one rebound in the second half. That in itself says a lot.
It was also an incredible day on the boards, spearheaded by Reggie Evans grabbing a gazillion offensive boards, and by Fortson having his presence felt for the first time in a few games. It was good to have him back.
The Sonics found Nick Collison a few times down low, and he easily would have broken double figures tonight if he would have been able to finish a couple more of his shots. I remember him bricking a dunk and blowing an easy layup down low. I'm not getting on his case, I'm just saying his totals would have been better tonight if he would have put away the easy shots.
Completely unrelated, but I'm becoming a big fan of Luke Ridnour's smooth running layups.
Oh yeah, Rashard Lewis and Ray Allen did their thing, scoring over 20 points like they normally do.
PEEK AT THE BOXSCORE
starters
Ray Allen 25 pts/4 reb/4 ast/2 stl (8-18 FG, 4-9 3pt, 5-5 free throws, 35 min), Rashard Lewis 21 pts/5 reb (9-23 FG, 1-6 3pt, 2-2 free throws), Luke Ridnour 10 pts/3 reb/7 ast (5-13 FG), Reggie Evans 0 pts/3 ast/13 reb (23 min)
bench
Vladimir Radmanovic 26 pts/5 reb/2 stl (9-17 FG, 8-14 3pt), Danny Fortson 10 pts/9 reb (3-5 FG, 4-4 free throws, 19 min), Nick Collison 8 pts/5 reb (3-7 FG, 19 min), Antonio Daniels 4 pts/2 reb/5 ast/2 stl (1-6 FG, 27 min)
Jerome James Watch
0 pts/2 reb (0-2 FG, 3 fouls, 1 turnover, 6 min)
team
shot 38-for-93 (40.9%) from the field, shot 13-for-33 (39.4%) from downtown, shot 15-for-15 (100%) from the free-throw line, outrebounded the Lakers 48-36 (Sonics had 20 offensive boards), turned the ball over only 9 times, bench outscored Laker bench 48-32 (outrebounded them 21-7), point guards dish out 12 assists and only 2 turnovers
The Sonics really didn't shoot in a blistering fashion in this game or anything. Fifteen combined offensive rebounds from Evans, Fortson, and Collison (20 for the whole team) sure help the cause of getting more shots, however.
After the Sonics went 1-for-10 to start the game, it looked a bit bleak, but then they eventually found their shot, and Vladimir started hitting a couple of threes here and there. Then the Sonics threw the hammer down on defense in the third quarter, and that pretty much sealed the game. The 28-point first quarter for the Lakers was abysmal. The 23-point second quarter reflected better on the Sonic defense, but it was pure brilliance when the Sonics held the Lakers to 17 in the third quarter. Calabro and Ehlo both pointed out that one reason the Sonics were able to corral Lamar Odom in the second half was thanks to some zone defense. Odom had 9 points and 11 boards in the first half. Though he did manage to score 10 more points in the second half, he was able to grab only three more rebounds.
Though they didn't shoot overly well, the only truly off-night for any Sonic shooter tonight was Antonio Daniels with his 1-for-6. The rest of the team more than picked up for this. Of course, eight three-pointers from Radmanovic helps make the Sonics' 40.9% shooting night look a little better.
I won't harp on the Sonics' only getting 15 free throws tonight, in part because they did go to the rack on occasion, in part because they were getting so many offensive rebounds that they were going to eventually set up the right shot and hit it, and in part because they didn't miss on any of the 15 tries. This of course coincides with Reggie Evans not getting to the line once.
I asked Jinkies how the Sonics should prepare themselves for the altitude (well, 4222 feet) and the tough task of going into Utah on the back end of a back-to-back set. His reply: "Do you kiss your mother and father with that filth-covered mouth?"
I didn't think Jinkies had that in him. I surely thought he was out of unique replies. Alas, he is not. There was unbridled joy at Casa de David.
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