Live From The Press Box - Sonics vs. Golden State
Want to enjoy the electricity of being Live at the Hardwood even if you're thousands of miles away? SUPERSONICS.COM's Live From the Press Box in-game blog is your best bet. All night and all season long, Kevin Pelton will be bringing you pregame Q&As and observations from the game. Make sure to keep coming back or refreshing so you get the latest content.
Sonics Lose
Posted at 8:45 p.m.
The end of this game dragged on a bit, with the Sonics continuing to foul virtually to the final buzzer, but, other than an Antonio Daniels three that briefly got them within four, the Sonics did not threaten during the final minute. The final is Golden State 117, Sonics 110, as the Warriors ring up 65 points after halftime, tying the most they’ve scored in the second half this season. When they needed to, the Sonics simply couldn’t come up with the defensive plays. This taste will leave a bad taste in the mouths of Sonics players as they head off to All-Star festivities or a well-deserved vacation, and we can only hope that they respond by coming back more motivated than ever as they finish out the regular season. It’s still been a great first half for the Sonics, who go into the break 35-15 and with a commanding lead in the Northwest Division. The bright spots tonight were the performances off the bench of Nick Collison, who had career highs of 16 points and 12 rebounds in a career-high 31 minutes and might see a larger role down the stretch, and Flip Murray, who scored 12 of his 14 points in the fourth quarter and reminded everyone that he is a capable scorer when he gets the chance.
Game, Warriors
Posted at 8:29 p.m.
After Davis hits both free throws, Flip Murray comes up with a three-point play to make it a one-possession game. But the Sonics continue to leave Davis - who’s tied his season high with 14 points - alone defensively, and he dunks to make it five. When Murray misses, that comes close to sealing it for the Warriors. A Davis putback does just that with 52.6 seconds left. That just can’t happen.
Huge Stop
Posted at 8:27 p.m.
It looked like Jason Richardson was going to score in the post on Ray Allen, but Richardson missed a chipshot and the rebound was tipped out of bounds. But allen missed on the offensive end and time is the Sonics enemy. Dale Davis gets an offensive rebound in a scramble situation defensively (Nick Colilsion’s fifth) and will head to the line for two shots.
A Game Again
Posted at 8:23 p.m.
The Sonics have turned up their defensive intensity and have three stops in the Warriors last four possessions, the only score a Speedy Claxton jumper that Mike Montgomery couldn’t have loved. An Antonio Daniels three attempt could have cut the Warriors lead to one, but it’s off and Golden State takes timeout to regroup with 2:50 left on the clock and a four-point lead, 104-100. The Sonics are certainly in this game, though they’re going to need to play nearly perfect basketball down the stretch.
Flip Love
Posted at 8:13 p.m.
Let’s give some credit to Flip Murray for his role in the Sonics comeback. Flip has seven points here in the quarter and has been aggressively getting to the basket for easy buckets. Even when he missed his last layup attempt, the Warriors were in position to knock in the loose ball (ahem, officially Nick Collison, tying his career high with 12 points). But the Sonics can’t do anything unless they get stops, and they’re not doing that anymore. Derek Fisher is lighting it up from downtown and Speedy Claxton and Jason Richardson are getting in the lane with ease. With 5:33 left on the clock, it looks like the Sonics may not have enough in the tank. That’s why you take care of business early in games like this.
Momentum Shift
Posted at 8:08 p.m.
The Sonics get three straight baskets and have gotten within five, 90-85, bringing the crowd to life. They’re dominating the offensive glass right now, led by Nick Collison, who’s playing a brilliant game and has 10 points and nine rebounds, one away from his second career double-double.
No Positives There
Posted at 8:00 p.m.
Final third-quarter carnage: Warriors 37, Sonics 21, Golden State takes a 10-point lead (89-79) to the final period of play. Derek Fisher had eight points, Mike Dunleavy nine and Jason Richardson 14 in the period (he’s now at 26 for the game). The Sonics played zero defense and showed zero energy But they’re also not out of this game, though they’ll need to get off to a quick start here in the fourth to keep the clock from working against them.
What Do I Know?
Posted at 7:50 p.m.
Officially, there were 14 seconds of game time between me saying Vladimir Radmanovic hadn’t checked in in the second half and him replacing Luke Ridnour. Seeing as I made virtually the same mistake with Calbert Cheaney in the first half, I think I’m just going to stop making those kinds of playing time predictions.
Trying to Change Momentum
Posted at 7:48 p.m.
Derek Fisher has caught fire for the Warriors, scoring eight points here in the third quarter (the Sonics have 10 as a team). Golden State has taken its largest lead of the evening, 76-68, and Nate McMillan takes timeout. His change, surprisingly, is to go with Nick Collison at center. Vladimir Radmanovic still hasn’t seen the court during the second half, and I wonder if McMillan isn’t trying to use Radmanovic as he often does Danny Fortson, saving him for a strong 12- to 14-minute run to close the game.
Defining “Wrong”
Posted at 7:42 p.m.
It occurs to me that when I say “wrong player” in the title, it could be construed as me questioning Nate McMillan’s substitution, which is not at all the case. I was wrong with regards to what player Nate would bring in. Either way, Nate or the Sonics have to find a way to bring some energy, because the Warriors are dominating the third quarter thus far. What we’re seeing right now - the Sonics playing unevenly in terms of effort and output - is exactly what a lot of people expected against a last-place team right before the All-Star break, and what the Sonics assured wouldn’t happen.
Right Idea, Wrong Player
Posted at 7:38 p.m.
McMillan indeed matches up small less than three minutes into this third quarter, but by putting in Antonio Daniels, not Vladimir Radmanovic, to give the Sonics a three-guard attack of their own. On a Derek Fisher three, the Warriors have taken a 63-62 lead, and Dale Davis alley-oop makes it 65-62 and gets the KeyArena crowd murmuring.
Not the Start Expected
Posted at 7:33 p.m.
Instead of coming out and putting the hammer down, the Sonics have seen Mike Dunleavy hit consecutive three-pointers and the Warriors score on each of their first three possessions to get within two points, 62-60. Dunleavy’s shooting illustrates the mismatches the Warriors small lineup provides but that Golden State was unable to take advantage of in the first half because of Dunleavy’s early foul trouble. Now, the question becomes, how quickly does Nate McMillan respond by getting Vladimir Radmanovic in the game at power forward? Or can the Sonics take advantage of Dunleavy’s weakness defensively? Either way, the Sonics have to step it up defensively.
Some fancy dancing from a young girl in purple behind the basket who only wants her two front teeth for … um … President’s Day? The crowd and Sonics waiting for the timeout to end like it.
Free-Throw Shooting Extraordinaire
Posted at 7:20 p.m.
Tonight’s halftime entertainment was a free-throw shooting contest, and congratulations go to Aquila, who represented for girls everywhere by defeating the two boys who advanced with her to the finals.
Sonics Lead at the Half
Posted at 7:15 p.m.
Despite a Ray Allen jumper on the Sonics last possession, the Warriors enter halftime on something of a roll, getting a Jason Richardson fast-break dunk and then a Speedy Claxton layup and foul (though he missed the free throw) just before the buzzer. It’s 58-52 Sonics midway through, and though they’ve struggled to stop the Warriors, the Sonics have scored virtually at will, shooting 58.8% and scoring 58 points on 47 offensive possessions. Again, I continue to be in disbelief at the Warriors ignoring Claxton; he’s got seven shots, only one more than Adonal Foyle and Mickael Pietrus. On the Sonics side, Ray Allen is the story, as he’s scored 22 points on sizzling 8-for-10 shooting. We’ve talked much of the season about how the Sonics have taken care of business after halftime, and we’ll look for something similar tonight.
Collison Gets the Call
Posted at 7:10 p.m.
Without Danny Fortson available tonight and without foul trouble being a major concern, Nate McMillan’s had the freedom to give rookie forward Nick Collison a nice long run here in the first half. Collison has played the entire second quarter thus far, though it looks like Jerome James is getting ready to spell himm after Collison earned his second foul (both of them moving screens) on a dubious call that he came as close to protesting as he ever will come. Collison’s numbers (four points, five rebounds) aren’t overwhelming by any stretch of the imagination, but he continues to be very solid. On one memorable play, he deflected a pass in backcourt and then came back and deflected and stole a pass once the Warriors got in their half-court offense.
T Him Up
Posted at 7:05 p.m.
A strangely calm Golden State Coach Mike Montgomery earns a technical foul (and strange timing - it comes right after an offensive foul call goes his team’s way). We’re going to go ahead and imagine he probably said some magic words. Ray Allen hits the free throw to give him 20 points for the evening, double his Sunday-night effort.
Congrats Bellevue
Posted at 7:00 p.m.
At the last timeout, the Sonics honored the Class 3A Washington State football champs, Bellevue, who earned national recognition by beating DeLaSalle in their season opener to end DeLaSalle’s lengthy winning streak. A hearty LFTPB congrats goes double for future UW Huskies J.R. Hasty and E.J. Savannah.
Golden State Leads … Now Not
Posted at 6:55 p.m.
Terrible second quarter for the Sonics, who have allowed Golden State to take a 38-37 lead a little over five minutes into the quarter. With Ray Allen out of the game, the Sonics turned into a dribble jumpshooting team (as opposed to catch-and-shoot jumpers, which are much more successful), and that didn’t work out real well. An illustration of the latter is the three Rashard Lewis just canned off of Allen’s dribble penetration. Interestingly, the Sonics have just one offensive rebound (by Nick Collison a moment ago) despite the fact that the Warriors are one of the NBA’s weaker rebounding teams. Ray Allen gets a layup off of a curl, and the Sonics are back up four. Yeah, he’s an All-Star alright. Allen adds a pull-up three in transition (the kind of shot only Ray Allen can get away with), and just like that it’s 45-38 Sonics and Mike Montgomery is calling time. Allen has 17 points tonight; the rest of the starting lineup has 15.
Tonight’s Useless Note
Posted at 6:48 p.m.
With 12 points (on 5-for-6 shooting) in the first quarter, Ray Allen has already surpassed his total output from Sunday’s loss to Dallas. You’re not going to see him put together consecutive games like that … ever.
Pietrus Time
Posted at 6:44 p.m.
Young Warriors swingman Mickael Pietrus - who is one of the many reasons I’m happy to write about basketball for a living instead of talking about it - opens the second quarter with a couple of athletic plays, a dunk off of a Jason Richardson feed, and then a tip dunk putback of a teammate’s miss. We haven’t yet seen veteran Calbert Chaeney, who lit the Sonics up for 20 points the last time these teams met, and if Pietrus keeps playing like this we probably won’t see him.
After One
Posted at 6:40 p.m.
Two driving buckets by Speedy Claxton get the Warriors within three, but they foolishly foul Antonio Daniels with a second left in the quarter about 40 feet away from the bucket and Daniels hits two free throws to give the Sonics a 31-26 advantage as we head to the second quarter. A couple of Warriors-related observations here: First, analysts often like to compete to see who can praise hustle players the most, but Eduardo Najera has hurt his team with his overzealousness today. Najera saved in a couple of balls (one of which was going to the Warriors anyway) that led to Sonics buckets on the other end. The other note is that Claxton looks like he can get to the basket any time he wants to. I highly doubt Mike Montgomery and company read my blog, so I think I’m safe in saying that the Warriors ought to just clear out for Speedy and let him go to the basket every time. The Sonics have, alas, shown no signs of slowing him down in either of the two games he’s played against them this season.
Heating Up
Posted at 6:35 p.m.
After a somewhat sluggish start, the Sonics have heated up offensively, connecting on their last six field goals to take a lead as large as nine points.
Feeling the Crowd
Posted at 6:31 p.m.
With just a little over three minutes left in the first quarter, the Sonics have gotten the crowd into the game for the first time with a little 6-0 run. After a Ray Allen jumper, Vladimir Radmanovic came up with a steal and Allen and Rashard Lewis connected on a fast-break alley-oop. Allen scored again on the ensuing possession, giving the Sonics a 22-18 lead and drawing a Mike Montgomery timeout.
Surprises All Around
Posted at 6:24 p.m.
Just as the Warriors probably didn’t expect Reggie Evans to damage against them on the block, I don’t think the Sonics gameplan really talked much about Adonal Foyle’s offense. Yet after hitting a layup just before the timeout, Foyle has six points, and he’s headed to the free-throw line for one shot. Foyle has been active on the boards, coming up with three rebounds. Jerome James has beat him for four points on the other end of the court, but James needs to respect Foyle’s offensive ability, such as it is.
Altering Strategy
Posted at 6:18 p.m.
Mike Dunleavy picks up his second foul less than three minutes into the game trying to defend Reggie Evans on the block. On the next play, Evans draws a foul on Adonal Foyle by beating Dunleavy to the basket. I didn’t think Evans would be able to give Dunleavy trouble, since post scoring, ahem, isn’t his forte, but he’s forced Dunleavy to the bench early (replaced by Eduardo Najera). This takes the Warriors largely out of smallball and means they probably won’t force the Sonics to adjust their strategy whatsoever. Interesting. The Sonics strategy has been the dominant one early, even if they only lead 8-6.
Where’s the Hollywood Sign?
Posted at 6:09 p.m.
So this is what it’s like going to basketball games in L.A. Because of ESPN, tonight’s game is tipping off at 6:00 instead of its previously-scheduled 7:00, and saying the crowd is late-arriving would be an understatement akin to saying Mike Dunleavy isn’t exactly a traditional power forward. If FSN’s cameras are to be believed, fans are still pouring in the entrances, so the Key should fill up soon. Let’s hope they’ve brought their voices.
Fortson Out
Posted at 5:52 p.m.
Some breaking news to report tonight, as the Sonics will be without big man Danny Fortson. Due back from a two-game league-imposed suspension tonight, Fortson instead headed home as his grandmother is ill. He will miss tonight’s game and have the entire All-Star break to catch up. Without Fortson and against a Warriors team that is going small, expect the Sonics to do the same.
Signing On
Posted at 5:50 p.m.
For the second time in the last week, the Sonics are nationally televised as they square off with the Golden State Warriors tonight at KeyArena. The Sonics have taken two matchups from Golden State already this season - one close, one not so close - and are looking to win the season series after losing it last season for the first time since 1991-92. ESPN is in the house, with a crew of Jim Durham and Tim Legler calling the action. Come down if you’re in the neighborhood, as some tickets are still available, or pull up a chair and hit refresh to make sure you’re getting the latest Live From The Press Box.
