Live From The Press Box - Sonics vs. Phoenix (Preseason)
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.
Suns Take It
Final: Phoenix 114, Sonics 113
In what I suspect without seeing a replay was something of a busted play, Luke Ridnour ends up isolating. He went to the basket a little too late and had his shot altered. It caught nothing but air, and the Suns claim the victory. Of course, that one play doesn't really change much in preseason. The Sonics did some things really well (mostly on offense, natch) and were not as sharp the other end of the floor. They'll be back at it Monday in Laredo, Texas against the Rockets and we'll see you next Wednesday, when the Sonics host the L.A. Clippers.
One Play for the Win
Fourth Quarter: Phoenix 114, Sonics 113
Ray Allen coolly dribbles into a 3-pointer in transition to cut the Suns lead to one. (Is there anyone scarier coming down with the ball in the league in that situation?) The Sonics then do a great job of playing the help defense that has been their focus throughout training camp, forcing a Phoenix 24-second vio (the Suns also had some poor spacing that thwarted their efforts). That gives the Sonics possession with 4.7 seconds left down one.
Phoenix by Four
Fourth Quarter: Phoenix 114, Sonics 110
Free throws extend the Suns lead. Jones hit his "and one," and after the teams traded misses, Reggie Evans is called for a loose-ball foul underneath, sending Kurt Thomas to the free-throw line. He drains them both - an underrated Thomas skill - and it's a four-point game with 1:04 to play.
Suns Go Ahead
Fourth Quarter: Phoenix 111, Sonics 110
Big shot by James Jones, who drains a long jumper from the left baseline while being fouled to give the Suns a one-point lead pending the free throw. Jones has 17 points, Raja Bell 26 (to tie his regular-season career high). Quentin Richardson and Joe Johnson who?
Still looks like a great finish. Ridnour/Allen/Lewis/Evans/Collison the lineup for the Sonics, while Phoenix has Diaw (at the point!)/Bell/Jones/Jim Jackson/Thomas … four 6-8 guys and the 6-10 Thomas. Wild.
Lookalikes
Fourth Quarter: Sonics 104, Phoenix 102
The Sonics Game Ops folks took a night off from look-alikes (which presumably would have ended up with Tom Skerritt and Mike D'Antoni, as Bill Simmons loves to point out), but SUPERSONICS.COM gives you a bonus lookalike tonight, courtesy FSN's Cara Capuano - Brian Grant and his namesake, singer Eddy Grant of "Electric Avenue" fame.
Check it out.
The Suns briefly take their first lead since 2-0, but a Rashard Lewis 3 has put the Sonics back out in front. Looks like we should have an outstanding finish.
Phoenix Still In It
Fourth Quarter: Sonics 99, Phoenix 95
Without Nash and Stoudemire - two of the best offensive players in the NBA last season - tonight is an interesting test of the Phoenix attack. Consider that mission accomplished, as the Suns are nearing 100 points and eight players have at least eight points. The beauty of what the Suns do is that nobody is afraid to pass the basketball because they know they're going to get it back, and it's going to be a better look when they do. There's an atmosphere of trust that makes the Suns more dangerous. (Of course, the Sonics attack has been even better tonight and nine players have scored at least five points. So there's certainly nothing wrong there.)
Sonics Lead Through Three
End Third Quarter: Sonics 94, Phoenix 87
Steve Nash may not be here, but Luke Ridnour provided a pretty fair impersonation during the third quarter, finishing with nine points, three assists and three rebounds. Fellow 2003 first-round pick Nick Collison got in on the action late in the period, hitting a layup by moving well without the ball and then taking a charge at the other end as the Sonics take a seven-point lead to the final period of play.
Luuuuuuuuuuuuke
Third Quarter: Sonics 87, Phoenix 78
Sonics point guard Luke Ridnour gets his team and the KeyArena crowd going with a nice little run. Ridnour had a layup, then followed it up with an offensive rebound which he dribbled back out into an isolation, off of which he hit a pull-up 18-foot jumper off the dribble. That is awesome. Luke has looked great during training camp and has been phenomenal tonight, with 13 points (on 5-for-8 shooting) and eight assists. He's forced Mike D'Antoni to take a timeout to respond as the Sonics extend their lead back to nine.
Injuries (and Illnesses)
Third Quarter: Sonics 76, Phoenix 74
As the Suns continue shooting the lights out in the third quarter (9-for-12 from the field, with Raja Bell alone scoring 15 points on 5-for-5 from the field), it occurs to me I haven't talked at all about the guys missing tonight's game.
For the Sonics, while Vladimir Radmanovic is back in the lineup, Mikki Moore (sore left knee) has joined Vitaly Potapenko (strained left hamstring) on the sidelines. That's mostly to give Coach Weiss more lineup flexibility. Danny Fortson is available, but has yet to play.
Steve Nash, as we mentioned earlier, did not make the trip because of a cold. Pat Burke has "stomach discomfort," which means … I'm not really exactly sure what that means, but it probably isn't fun. As you've likely already heard, forward/center Amaré Stoudemire underwent microfracture knee surgery on Tuesday, sidelining him for up to the next four months, a devastating blow for the Suns. (Though it hasn't showed tonight.)
Not a Major Concern
Third Quarter: Sonics 71, Phoenix 63
Phoenix with an 11-4 run to start the second half, which would be cause for concern … if this was a regular season. Ray Allen steps the tide a bit with a technical free throw after Raja Belll is caught jawing. I'm surprised how into it the Phoenix bench is down here but these are some guys trying to make a team, and you don't want to be caught napping on the bench.
A Little Sloppy
Third Quarter: Sonics 70, Phoenix 58
The Sonics start the second half with four turnovers in the first three minutes. Bob Weiss responds by taking a quick timeout to get the offense back on track.
As Arenavision showed during the timeout, several Seahawks are in attendance this evening, including Matt Hasselbeck, Mack Strong, Robbie Tobeck and Michael Boulware.
Strong First Half
Halftime: Sonics 66, Phoenix 52
Despite Reggie Evans' last-second heave coming nowhere near the basket, the Sonics will take a 14-point lead to the locker room. Even though Bob Weiss probably would have liked to see his team do a little more defensively, I'm confident he'll be happy with a double-digit lead.
One of the things I'm going to try to mention this year from time-to-time are per-possession ratings to try to understand how the offense and defense are doing while factoring out the pace at which the Sonics are playing (a little faster this year, presumably). In the first half, the Sonics put up 66 points in 54 possessions, which is an outstanding 122.2 per 100 possessions (as the stat is usually reported). I have Phoenix down for 54 possessions as well, and they've scored 52 points (96.3 per 100 possessions). How good you consider that depends on how good you think Phoenix's offense is without Nash and Stoudemire. It looks like the Sonics have some work to do defensively, but then again the Suns shooters test the Sonics new "help and help the helper" philosophy as much as any team in the league.
Both invitees who saw action in the first half are looking good. Noel Felix has four points on a couple of jumpers and a great knockaway for a steal. Scales finished the first half with seven oints in eight minutes, along with two boards and an assist.
Scorching
Second Quarter: Sonics 58, Phoenix 48
After scoring 75 points all game against Portland on Wednesday, the Sonics have an outside shot of hitting that mark in the first half tonight The offense is clicking on all cylinders, with Ray Allen and Rashard Lewis both in double-figures and the Sonics shooting 59.5% from the field. Alex Scales has done an excellent job on the point so far.
The Sonics Boom Squad makes its 2005-06 debut and gets a loud round of applause from the crowd.
Tipping the Scales
Second Quarter: Sonics 48, Phoenix 44
Sonics Coach Bob Weiss said before tonight's game that he's going to look to get his starters more minutes, maybe up to near 30 minutes apiece. That will cut into the playing time available for the Sonics training camp invitees, but guard Alex Scales will still see plenty of action after scoring 10 points in the Sonics preseason opener. Scales just hit a 3-pointer in his first attempt of the night.
Weiss said he's looking at Scales' ability to play point at times. He noted that Scales could play point in a situation like the Brent Barry-Flip Murray lineup the Sonics used at the start of the 2003-04 season, where both players are capable of handling the ball. In that spirit, Weiss wants to look at Scales alongside Flip Murray. Right now, he's handling the point and playing with Ray Allen, who just returned to the game.
Scales is also matched up with Suns guard Eddie House, and a matchup like that really makes you think. House is a better ballhandler than Scales but not by much. They're both undersized shooters, but Scales is still looking to stick in the NBA while House already has his pension.
Looking Good
Second Quarter: Sonics 41, Phoenix 37
Even without their two best offensive players, MVP Steve Nash (who stayed home because he has the cold, missing this trip in preseason for the second straight year) and Amaré Stoudemire, the Suns have still put up 37 points in a little more than a quarter. Kurt Thomas is no Stoudemire, ut he'll get plenty of open looks off of the pick-and-pop and will knock them down. He's got six points thus far, while Eddie House has five off the bench.
As for Phoenix's improvements on the other end of the court? Um, not so much. Damien Wilkins and Flip Murray both looking good off the bench; they've combined for 13 points.
Key Debut
First Quarter: Sonics 26, Phoenix 20
Rookie Johan Petro checks in to make his KeyArena debut with a little over a minute left in the first quarter. Petro replaces Nick Collison, who has already picked up four fouls. Ah, preseason basketball.
Signing On
First Quarter: Sonics 23, Phoenix 18
Apologies for a late start tonight, as some technical difficulties prevented us from getting going right away. I'm now set up courtside adjacent to the Phoenix bench and ready to get going. What have I missed? The Sonics have led since the first Phoenix basket on a night when they're getting their starters a little more involved. Ray Allen and Rashard Lewis have combined for 16 points to power a Sonics attack that has been much more effective than Wednesday in Portland.
