Live From the Press Box - Sonics vs. New Jersey
Want to enjoy the electricity of at KeyArena 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 quotes, analysis and observations from the game. E-mail Kevin at sonicsconnection@sonics-storm.com. Make sure to keep coming back or refreshing so you get the latest content.
Nets Hold on for Win
Final: New Jersey 98, Sonics 93
The Sonics took this one all the way down to the final seconds, but the Nets held on for a 98-93 victory. The final seconds were a whirlwind. The Sonics forced Richard Jefferson into a miss and collected the basketball, but had to get the ball upcourt in a hurry needing a three and without a timeout. Vince Carter wisely fouled Delonte West before West could get off a shot. After missing his first attempt, West intentionally missed the second but the Sonics were called for a loose-ball foul in the scramble for the rebound and that was that.
The Sonics did a good job of getting back into this game in the second half. The bench provided a lot of energy as the Sonics rallied from down 14 to get within as close as one point with a little less than a minute left. Jeff Green was a big factor in that, recoding another double-double and tying the career high he set Monday in Memphis with 14 rebounds. West scored 17 points and Kurt Thomas' veteran presence was an invaluable part of the comeback. It was a quiet night for the starters, though four of them did reach double-figures scoring and all had at least two assists. Kevin Durant hit some big shots amongst his 12 points.
The Sonics will be back at the Key in less than 48 hours to host the defending NBA champion San Antonio Spurs. It's a 6:00 p.m. tip for "Kids at the Key" Sunday presented by the New B97.3 and Aquafina, so 
get your tickets now and be here for that game.
Last Timeout
Fourth Quarter: New Jersey 96, Sonics 93
Kevin Durant split two free throws after being fouled on a hard take to the bucket. The Nets just took their last timeout, a 20, with 22.6 seconds left on the game clock and 16 left on the shot clock. Down three, the Sonics don't need a foul, but they cannot allow a New Jersey score.
Down Four
Fourth Quarter: New Jersey 96, Sonics 92
Delonte West went to the basket for the Sonics on their last possession and, finding the defense closing in on him, threw behind him to where he thought Jeff Green was. Alas, Green had cut to his right and the pass went sailing near halfcourt, where it was retrieved by Jason Kidd on the run. Great play by Kurt Thomas to catch Kidd and foul him. He hit one of the two shots, making it a four-point game with 34.8 seconds still left. I believe the Sonics just used their last timeout.
Jefferson Scores
Fourth Quarter: New Jersey 95, Sonics 92
Richard Jefferson with an aggressive attack of the basket. He bobbled the ball for a moment, but recollected and went up to lay it up and in despite Sonics duress. That makes it a three-point game with 48.2 seconds left. Still too early to think three-pointer, but both teams are starting to run low on timeouts - neither has a full TO remaining.
Giving Difficult West Coast Road Trip New Meaning
Fourth Quarter: New Jersey 93, Sonics 92
Delonte West comes up with a huge play for the Sonics. Running the high pick-and-roll with Kurt Thomas, West drove hard to the left, picked up some contact from Jason Collins, and finished off glass anyway. He completed the three-point play to bring the Sonics within one at 93-92 with 55.4 seconds left. The Nets will take it at halfcourt after a timeout.
Wright Gives New Jersey Two-Possession Advantage
Fourth Quarter: New Jersey 93, Sonics 89
The Sonics forced the Nets to go away from their big three on the last possession, New Jersey putting the ball in the hands of Antoine Wright. But Wright came up big on a difficult shot, putting an off-balance cast in the lane off glass and in the basket. That's a big score because this is now a two-possession game, but there's still plenty of time (62 seconds) for the Sonics.
Nets Clinging to Lead
Fourth Quarter: New Jersey 91, Sonics 89
New Jersey went up five and, after two empty possessions for the Sonics, the momentum seemed to have moved back to the visitors. However, Kevin Durant answered with a dunk and then a three-pointer as the Sonics have gotten back within two. The Nets will take over after a 20-second timeout, with the Sonics needing a stop.
7-0 Sonics Run
Fourth Quarter: New Jersey 87, Sonics 84
As I suspected, P.J. Carlesimo was saving Kurt Thomas for a few minutes down the stretch of this game. Thomas checked in at the last timeout, and the Sonics have followed with a 7-0 run to get within three with 4:25 to play. Thomas kicked off the scoring with an elbow jumper off of a Damien Wilkins feed. After a stop, Delonte West nailed a triple in transition. The Sonics then had a great defensive possession, with Wilkins denying Richard Jefferson the ball and deflecting it away out well past the three-point line. With the shot clock running down, the best Jefferson could do was throw up a contested 28-footer that was off. Kevin Durant recovered and the Sonics ran their offense, with Thomas using a great pump fake to open things up and find West at the top of the jumper for a two-pointer with his foot on the line. Lawrence Frank answers with a New Jersey timeout.
Green Carrying Sonics
Fourth Quarter: New Jersey 87, Sonics 77
Right now, Jeff Green's energy and his effective play is largely responsible for keeping the Sonics in the game. Green has a double-double with 14 points and 12 rebounds. It's his second of the season, and that leads all rookies - in fact, the rest of the rookie class combined has only three double-doubles.
Richard Jefferson responded with a hard take to the bucket for a three-point play, but the Sonics got a stop when Kevin Durant came over to erase a Vince Carter shot attempt. The Sonics now trail by 10 with 5:57 to go and need to string some scores and stops together.
Sonics Hanging Around
Fourth Quarter: New Jersey 80, Sonics 73
The Sonics continue to maintain touch with the Nets and stay within striking distance. They're down seven as we've hit the first media timeout of the fourth and final period of play. Vince Carter has one of the two buckets for New Jersey in the period - his first score since midway through the second quarter after 11 early points. He's frequently been matched up with Kevin Durant, and we've seen some very nice defense from Durant tonight, including taking a charge on Richard Jefferson a moment ago.
Down Eight to the Fourth
End Third Quarter: New Jersey 76, Sonics 68
A pair of three-pointers from the right corner, one by Bostjan Nachbar and one by Jason Kidd, slowed down the Sonics comeback but did not entirely derail it. It's an eight-point margin as we head to the forth quarter, and there's plenty of time for the Sonics to complete their comeback. However, they're going to have to continue beating the Nets to loose balls, as they did late in the third quarter. We'll see how much Kurt Thomas has left - his minutes are limited tonight, and he is not on the floor for the Sonics as we head to the final period.
Sonics On the Run
Third Quarter: New Jersey 68, Sonics 61
Lots of scrap and fight from the Sonics coming out of the timeout. A Delonte West three-pointer extended their run to 8-2 and drew a Lawrence Frank timeout, as the Sonics are back within seven points. The bench has been very productive tonight, led by the active Jeff Green, who has 10 points and eight rebounds. The Nets were able to stifle a run led by the Sonics bench in the second quarter. Will the bench be able to maintain this surge?
Jeffersonian Performance
Third Quarter: New Jersey 66, Sonics 53
The Sonics made a dent into New Jersey's lead early in this third quarter, but the Nets have now pushed it to 13 points - their largest lead this evening. Richard Jefferson is a big reason why New Jersey has yet to miss Vince Carter, who has spent this entire period on the bench. Jefferson now has a game-high 19 points and has provided some athletic scores, including a gorgeous up-and-under a moment ago.
The Sonics will shake things up after the timeout, getting reserves Delonte West, Wally Szczerbiak, Jeff Green and Kurt Thomas in the game.
Friday Night Live Dunk Contest
Halftime: New Jersey 52, Sonics 42
The Sonics brought fans out on the court and gave them a trampoline to dunk off of in the first ever Friday Night Live Dunk Contest. Who knew some of our fans were so good at throwing it down? Congrats to Riley, who won with a windmill dunk in the final round.
Sonics Down 10 at the Half
Halftime: New Jersey 52, Sonics 42
The Sonics have some work to do in the second half, as they enter halftime trailing by 10. The Nets shot 53.7% from the field in the first half an held a 19-16 rebounding advantage. Turnovers also became an issue for the Sonics, who had eight of them in the second quarter. The first-half scoring was very balanced, with all nine players who saw action getting in the scoring column. Chris Wilcox and Damien Wilkins had eight apiece; nobody else scored more than five.
Despite my recent comments about the slow pace of the game, there were actually about 48 possessions a side in the first half, which is only slightly below the Sonics usual pace. Maybe the game seems slow because the fast-break points have virtually all come from the Nets, who hold an 11-2 advantage in fast-break scoring.
Sonics in Search of Easy Buckets
Second Quarter: New Jersey 48, Sonics 40
Not a lot of flow for the Sonics on offense so far tonight. A big reason for that is the Nets have done a good job of keeping the Sonics from getting out and running. They did not have any fast-break points in the first quarter. This game has almost entirely been played in the half court, and that is to the liking of the slow-paced Nets and not the fast-paced Sonics.
We'll see if the Sonics are able to push the tempo as this game continues.
Wilcox Pleased With Turkey Giveaway
Second Quarter: New Jersey 37, Sonics 32
I had a chance in the locker room before tonight's game to quickly get Sonics forward Chris Wilcox's take on the event he hosted Wednesday donating Thanksgiving turkey dinners with all the fixings to families at the Rainier Community Center in Seattle.
"It was nice," Wilcox said. "The turnout was great. The kids were into it. It was very nice."
My story has more about the event as well as a photo gallery.
Thomas Sparks Sonics Run
Second Quarter: New Jersey 33, Sonics 30
The Sonics opened the second quarter with an 8-2 run to tie the game before a Bostjan Nachbar three-pointer gave the Nets back the lead. You can quickly spot the difference having Kurt Thomas' veteran presence on the floor. Even when he was beat to an offensive rebound by New Jersey rookie Sean Williams, who has a little more spring left in his legs, Thomas stood his ground and his position defense forced Williams into a miss. Speaking of big-to-big passing, as we were, Chris Wilcox had a great dish to Thomas, who wisely paused an up-faked to clear airspace before going up with the layup.
Observations
End First Quarter: New Jersey 28, Sonics 22
Some notes from a first quarter that ended with the Nets holding a six-point advantage:
Great big-to-big passing between Nick Collison and Chris Wilcox. Collison had a pair of assists to Wilcox, who made a terrific athletic play to recover a high lob and bank it on glass on one of the passes before finishing strong with a dunk on the other.
Wilcox and Jason Collins are an interesting matchup because both are about the same height, have their hair breaded and wear headbands. The similarities end when both players jump - while Wilcox is one of the league's best leapers, I'm not sure Collins can dunk at this point. (Yet he remains a valuable player because of his position defense and screen setting, which is very impressive.)
I'm not sure when this happened, but Richard Jefferson has developed an extraordinarily long free-throw stroke that is very unorthodox. It's clearly working, however. Jefferson is shooting 87.7% from the line and, as I reported in Insider Preview, he's second in the league in made free throws.
Smallball on Tap
First Quarter: New Jersey 21, Sonics 19
We expect both of these teams to spend a lot of time tonight playing smaller, quicker lineups. Jeff Green came in at power forward as part of the first Sonics substitution. Meanwhile, Bostjan Nachbar is about to check in at power forward for the Nets. Nachbar is a fine outside shooter, so the Sonics will have to be aware of him from the perimeter. Green quickly came up with a very nice move in the post, a turnaround jumper from the baseline that is essentially impossible to defend.
During the timeout, the world-famous Pike Place Market Fishmongers used their fish-tossing skills to be the first people to cast their ballot here at KeyArena for the 2008 All-Star Game. Of course, you can vote online daily. Click here and cast your vote for Nick Collison, Kevin Durant, Luke Ridnour and Wally Szczerbiak now!
Carter's Presence Felt
First Quarter: New Jersey 17, Sonics 13
Nets Head Coach Lawrence Frank decided to bring All-Star guard Vince Carter, playing his second game back from a badly sprained ankle, off the bench once again. Immediately after checking in to replace Antoine Walker, who had two quick fouls, Carter announced his presence with a three-pointer. He's got seven early points as the Nets have surged since he checked in to take an early 17-13 lead.
The Nets have gotten forward Malik Allen, part of their starting lineup, some good looks from midrange. He's got six early points and the defensive effort was lacking on his last score, leading to a P.J. Carlesimo timeout.
Wilcox Starts, Thomas Returns
Pregame
The Sonics come into tonight's game with question marks about a number of their big men because of injuries. They'll play without Johan Petro, who is sidelined by a lower back strain, and center Robert Swift. However, they will get Kurt Thomas back in the lineup after he missed three games with a right hamstring strain. Also, Chris Wilcox, who sprained his left ankle in practice yesterday, will go.
According to Carlesimo, the Sonics were lucky that Wilcox's ankle did not swell much. There was some pain, but when I asked Wilcox about it in the locker room, he described the pain as, "Not enough to keep me on the bench tonight." So he will play and start.
Signing On
Pregame
Welcome back to KeyArena. After a lengthy road trip, the Sonics return to home tonight, facing the New Jersey Nets with a national audience watching on ESPN. The Sonics want to get some momentum going during this homestand, which will see them play seven of their next eight games at the Key over the next two-plus weeks. The Nets come into town in the midst of their annual Thanksgiving Road Trip, which saw them win Wednesday at Portland in Vince Carter's return to the lineup.
