James scored a season-high 16 points and added three blocked shots as the SuperSonics dominated inside en route to a 95-87 victory over the Pistons.
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Pistons-Sonics: 300k 
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Ray Allen, who scored 15 points, was corralled by Richard Hamilton, making just 3-of-17 shots and missing all four 3-point attempts.
Allen credited the tough Detroit defense with keeping Seattle from scoring from long range.
"I thought we missed some easy ones, but we didn't shoot a whole bunch of threes because they located us, they got back, they switched and they were really on us," he said.
"I bet Detroit is probably thinking, 'We did what we wanted to do, we stopped them from shooting the ball like they wanted to,'" Allen said. "I told Jerome they are going to call me Nostradamus because I said in order for us to be successful down the stretch, our bigs are going to have to play real well for us because everybody knows what we have done well."
James was 8-of-10 from the floor with seven rebounds and Reggie Evans grabbed 12 boards as the SuperSonics outrebounded the Pistons, 49-33. James believed his success was just a matter of being in the right place at the right time.
"We know that teams, after the All-Star break, are going to jump on Ray and Rashard (Lewis) coming off picks, so coach wants us to roll to the basket," James said. "Tonight, they needed scoring and rebounding and hard fouls. Whatever the position calls for that night, I just want to come out and execute that role."
Pistons guard Chauncey Billups admitted the inside play of the Sonics surprised them.
"They did a great job," he said. "We thought they were going to shoot a lot of threes today and come out spacing the court, and they broke our defense down too many times and got in the lane. They hurt us that way. The times I have seen them, I haven't seen them do that."
Lewis scored 18 points for Seattle, including four during a decisive run in the fourth quarter.
After a dunk by Ronald Dupree gave Detroit a 73-71 lead just under two minutes into the final period, Danny Fortson answered with a follow shot at the other end to spark an 11-0 spurt over the next five minutes. Allen followed with a layup to give Seattle the lead for good.
Lewis added a turnaround jumper and a pair of free throws around a three-point play by Antonio Daniels to give the Sonics an 82-73 cushion with just over four minutes remaining.
Luke Ridnour, who had 15 points and six assists, Daniels and Allen each hit a pair of free throws in the final two minutes to preserve the win.
Seattle coach Nate McMillan was not surprised that his team was forced to abandon its run-and-gun style and play more conservatively.
"These are the type of games you'll be playing at this time of the season, where it's grind-it-out," he said. "You've got to make breaks for yourself and you've got to have good execution, good defense and you've got to play with heart."
Hamilton scored 15 points, Ben Wallace added 12 and 10 rebounds and Rasheed Wallace chipped in 10 and 11 for the Pistons, who have lost back-to-back games for the first time since January.
"We didn't match their energy and we got into foul trouble in the fourth quarter," Pistons coach Larry Brown said. "We were trying to get to the line and we didn't. We settled for a lot of possessions where there wasn't a lot of ball movement."