http://www.sacbee.com/100/story/122198.html
Five, then a dive
Sonic surge ends Kings' win streak
By Sam Amick - Bee Staff Writer
Last Updated 12:42 am PST Monday, February 12, 2007
There were other Seattle players of significance, to be sure.
Chris Wilcox was the one putting it to the Kings early, when they looked nothing like a team that had won five in a row while falling behind by as many as 18 points in the first half.
Rashard Lewis ditched the padded glove on his healing hand and came closer to rediscovering his shooting stroke after a recent 22-game absence.
But facing the Sonics in back-to-back games meant the odds were slim that Ray Allen wouldn't eventually weigh in. So with Seattle leading by five and 2:33 left in the fourth quarter at Arco Arena on Sunday night, the Kings having showed enough late will to turn a 22-point deficit into as little as a two-point margin, Allen took a pass in the left corner and buried a three-pointer that stopped all this unexpected momentum with a swish.
The same Sonics who were run off their home floor by the Kings the night before responded with a 114-103 win. Allen finished with 25 points and hit 3 of 7 three-pointers. And just as Gang Green was stopping the Kings' home winning streak at five, it won for the second consecutive time on the road after setting a franchise record by losing the 15 previous games away from KeyArena. The Sonics were new to the concept of winning on the tail end of back-to-backs as well, entering play with a 1-11 mark in such affairs.
They effectively negated what would have been a rare Kings comeback. Down 83-65 late in the third quarter, the Kings compiled a 22-6 run in which Kevin Martin had 10 of his team-high 24 points. Allen's three-pointer killed the last true threat, as the Sonics finished on a 19-12 run.
"It's hard beating teams back-to-back, (and) we all know that in this league," Kings coach Eric Musselman said. "It's even harder when the games are within 24 hours."
There was, however, one way in which this day was very much like the one before it. On Saturday, the Kings learned they would be without injured center Brad Miller at least through the All-Star break. On Sunday, starting forward Kenny Thomas was unavailable, a lower back strain benching him and rookie Justin Williams making the surprise start in his absence.
If anything, Williams' limited presence turned the opponent's green light to attack the rim to a yellow light, as Miller and Thomas have never been mistaken for shot-blockers. But Williams was only a part of the mix for eight minutes in all, while Wilcox didn't much care who was in the lane as he scored 15 of his 25 points in a first half the Sonics won 59-43.
"I think we played the worst first half we have all year," Martin said.
The disappearance of the defense was mostly to blame. In the last four games, Kings opponents had shot a combined 38 percent (133 of 350). The Kings hadn't allowed an opponent to score 100 points in the last five games. But the Sonics shot 46.8 percent from the field (36 of 77), with Wilcox hitting 8 of 9 attempts. Lewis had 23 points.
"They attacked the rim and they played smart," Artest said.
And in due time, so did the Kings. During their late run, Martin was joined mostly by Corliss Williamson (20 points), Salmons, Francisco García and Ron Artest, while Mike Bibby was the odd man out for the second consecutive game -- he has a combined 53 minutes in his last two games.
Musselman was animated in a new way, even waving his arms to engage the home crowd and sparking chants of "defense, defense" that ended a night of relative quiet. The only noise of note before had been the return of the boos, which came when the Kings trailed 67-45 early in the third quarter.
Artest had responded by waving his right arm in a dismissive gesture, at which time the Kings' comeback that came too late began.
"We didn't come out with energy from the beginning," swingman John Salmons said. "You could see it on their faces that they had a different determination. They had pride. They weren't going to get beat twice like that."
About the writer: The Bee's Sam Amick can be reached at samick@ sacbee.com.
Five, then a dive
Sonic surge ends Kings' win streak
By Sam Amick - Bee Staff Writer
Last Updated 12:42 am PST Monday, February 12, 2007
There were other Seattle players of significance, to be sure.
Chris Wilcox was the one putting it to the Kings early, when they looked nothing like a team that had won five in a row while falling behind by as many as 18 points in the first half.
Rashard Lewis ditched the padded glove on his healing hand and came closer to rediscovering his shooting stroke after a recent 22-game absence.
But facing the Sonics in back-to-back games meant the odds were slim that Ray Allen wouldn't eventually weigh in. So with Seattle leading by five and 2:33 left in the fourth quarter at Arco Arena on Sunday night, the Kings having showed enough late will to turn a 22-point deficit into as little as a two-point margin, Allen took a pass in the left corner and buried a three-pointer that stopped all this unexpected momentum with a swish.
The same Sonics who were run off their home floor by the Kings the night before responded with a 114-103 win. Allen finished with 25 points and hit 3 of 7 three-pointers. And just as Gang Green was stopping the Kings' home winning streak at five, it won for the second consecutive time on the road after setting a franchise record by losing the 15 previous games away from KeyArena. The Sonics were new to the concept of winning on the tail end of back-to-backs as well, entering play with a 1-11 mark in such affairs.
They effectively negated what would have been a rare Kings comeback. Down 83-65 late in the third quarter, the Kings compiled a 22-6 run in which Kevin Martin had 10 of his team-high 24 points. Allen's three-pointer killed the last true threat, as the Sonics finished on a 19-12 run.
"It's hard beating teams back-to-back, (and) we all know that in this league," Kings coach Eric Musselman said. "It's even harder when the games are within 24 hours."
There was, however, one way in which this day was very much like the one before it. On Saturday, the Kings learned they would be without injured center Brad Miller at least through the All-Star break. On Sunday, starting forward Kenny Thomas was unavailable, a lower back strain benching him and rookie Justin Williams making the surprise start in his absence.
If anything, Williams' limited presence turned the opponent's green light to attack the rim to a yellow light, as Miller and Thomas have never been mistaken for shot-blockers. But Williams was only a part of the mix for eight minutes in all, while Wilcox didn't much care who was in the lane as he scored 15 of his 25 points in a first half the Sonics won 59-43.
"I think we played the worst first half we have all year," Martin said.
The disappearance of the defense was mostly to blame. In the last four games, Kings opponents had shot a combined 38 percent (133 of 350). The Kings hadn't allowed an opponent to score 100 points in the last five games. But the Sonics shot 46.8 percent from the field (36 of 77), with Wilcox hitting 8 of 9 attempts. Lewis had 23 points.
"They attacked the rim and they played smart," Artest said.
And in due time, so did the Kings. During their late run, Martin was joined mostly by Corliss Williamson (20 points), Salmons, Francisco García and Ron Artest, while Mike Bibby was the odd man out for the second consecutive game -- he has a combined 53 minutes in his last two games.
Musselman was animated in a new way, even waving his arms to engage the home crowd and sparking chants of "defense, defense" that ended a night of relative quiet. The only noise of note before had been the return of the boos, which came when the Kings trailed 67-45 early in the third quarter.
Artest had responded by waving his right arm in a dismissive gesture, at which time the Kings' comeback that came too late began.
"We didn't come out with energy from the beginning," swingman John Salmons said. "You could see it on their faces that they had a different determination. They had pride. They weren't going to get beat twice like that."
About the writer: The Bee's Sam Amick can be reached at samick@ sacbee.com.
