Somewhere in Arizona a Suns fan is kicking himself over the fact that a team he takes so much delight in taunting has now lost twice to the Sonics. As a respectable mature thirtysomething adult male I can only say:
In your face SUNSballs!
The Sonics boasted a triple threat attack last night. I highly recommend reading Mr. Baker's comment in the box score thread for a great Xs and Os breakdown of the win. Simply put Seattle's frontcourt was huge last night and Ray Allen has continued to show this year why he is a superstar level player.
Earlier this year I firmly thought there was no way the team should ever entertain the idea of trading Rashard Lewis before Ray if they wanted to blow the team up. Now I've completely changed my mind on that. Ray Allen is one of the top 5 clutch players in the NBA, especially from 3 point range. He has an assassin's mentality and a knack for knocking down momentum-swinging jumpers.
The team is now 12-6 after adding Wilcox and Watson. As one of my colleagues has pointed out that equates to a 54 win season and genuine cause for optimism heading in to next year.
Gary Washburn writes that the defense wasn't great (Has there been an NBA game involving the Suns that featured defense? I thought that there was some great team defense being played on Nash in the first half. They were forcing him towards the defense instead of letting him slice them apart.
Phoenix converted just four 3-pointers in the first half. The Suns matched that amount in the first four minutes of the third quarter.
Nash, held to one bucket in the first half, hit two straight to begin the third quarter, prompting Hill to call a timeout. Bell followed with two more and the Suns had turned a one-point halftime deficit into a 70-64 lead.
Just when it appeared, however, that the Suns were going to cruise to another blowout win, Allen responded with a critical shot. He brought the Sonics back from an 81-74 deficit with consecutive three-point plays.
Allen scored 12 points in the final quarter, and Wilcox added eight of his 23 points as he collected his fourth consecutive double-double.
It's the first time this season the Sonics have won four consecutive games. And in the past two weeks they have defeated three of the top six seeds in the Western Conference playoffs.
Lee Horsey illustrates the nature of the Seattle sports fan. I always thought it was hilarious how the Seahawk and Mariner players always kiss fan ass calling Seattle fans the best in the league ... I think anyone who's ever spent any time away from this town can tell you unequivocably that's a complete load of crap. Wonder where Lee works when the P-I goes down the tubes later this year.
The one-game suspension for reckless driving surprised Rashard Lewis, writes Percy Allen.
Why he was surprised I don't know, since any kind of criminal conduct by an NBA player, even reckless driving, usually draws a 1-game suspension at least. Live and learn Shard.
Rayja vu, I like it.
And now the news we all want to know -- Hey Johan, where'd you get your mask?
That was Brian Grant?!?!?!?!