Live From the Press Box - Sonics vs. Indiana
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Sonics Get the W
Final: Sonics 95, Indiana 93
Jamaal Tinsley got a pretty good look at a three-pointer that would have tied the game, but it was off and Kevin Durant pulled down the rebound and hit both free throws to seal this ballgame. (A meaningless Danny Granger three at the buzzer produced the final two-point margin). This win has to feel good for the Sonics, who have been struggling to break through at home. They got rewarded for that kind of effort tonight and played some of their best defense of the season, holding Indiana to 35.9% shooting from the field and 24.0% from downtown.
Durant is sure to get the headlines after scoring a career-high 35 points in his best offensive performance of the season, which featured 12-of-20 shooting. Don't discount some solid defense from Durant as well, including a couple of blocks. There were plenty of contributors tonight, however. Earl Watson handed out 11 assists in just 27 minutes off the bench, tying his season high in the process. Jeff Green's energy was big, and he finished with 12 points and five rebounds. Chris Wilcox finished a rebound shy of a double-double and Kurt Thomas was everywhere on the glass, pulling down a career-high 16 defensive rebounds and finishing with 18 total boards, the most by a Sonics player this season.
The Sonics will look to carry over the momentum of tonight's win on Sunday, when they host the high-octane Golden State Warriors here at KeyArena. That should be an entertaining matchup of two teams who like to run. Make sure you don't miss it by 
getting your tickets now!
Hang-On Time
Fourth Quarter: Sonics 93, Indiana 90
Okay, I spoke too soon. Jamaal Tinsley, who had not scored in the first 47 minutes of the game, has six points over the last 35 seconds to bring the Pacers within three, 93-90, with 12.6 seconds to play. Jim O'Brien has used his final timeout, presumably looking for a three to tie the game. Indiana has struggled from downtown tonight but has plenty of capable long-range shooters.
Sonics Lead Comfortably
Fourth Quarter: Sonics 90, Indiana 84
Despite Jamaal Tinsley heading to the free-throw line with 54.3 seconds left to play, the Sonics still have what should be a comfortable lead if they make free throws and take care of the basketball. The Sonics are running their offense through Kevin Durant down the stretch, and the rookie has responded with decisions which have almost all been good. He's scored a career-high 30 points on 12-of-20 shooting and also had a crucial assist to Damien Wilkins with a great feed.
Sonics Answer
Fourth Quarter: Sonics 83, Indiana 77
Very nice response by the Sonics, who have scored all six points since the timeout to reclaim control of this game with 4:44 to play. Earl Watson looks like he's going to finish this game at point guard, and he's had a solid night. Off of a Kevin Durant feed, Watson used an upfake to get an open jumper from the right elbow that he knocked down. Then, after a Sonics stop, Watson found Durant alone beyond the three-point line. Durant drained it to make the lead six and force a Jim O'Brien timeout. The Pacers have just one full timeout to use over the last five minutes or so. P.J. Carlesimo has two full timeouts and a 20.
Pacers Pull Even
Fourth Quarter: Sonics 77, Indiana 77
As quickly as the Sonics took command of this game, they have seen the Pacers undo that hard work with a 12-2 run to tie the ballgame at 77-all with 6:18 left to play. The Pacers are really taking advantage of the free-throw line, where they've hit 6-for-6 in the quarter and have outscored the Sonics 18-11 on the evening. Indiana has also clamped down on defense, forcing a couple of Sonics turnovers and some contested shots. The Sonics have continued scrapping on their offensive glass, but without a lot of points to show for it.
Momentum: Sonics
Fourth Quarter: Sonics 75, Indiana 67
Even a blind squirrel gets an acorn once in a while, and I'm feeling good about my prediction of a Sonics run. Right now, the Sonics have all the momentum in this game, outscoring Indiana 5-2 in the period to push their lead to eight points - the largest it has been tonight. Indiana's Jim O'Brien takes timeout to try to get his team's offense - still stuck on 35.1% shooting from the field - going.
Keep it mind that All-Star voting is continuing here at KeyArena and online at NBA.com. Click here to cast your vote for Nick Collison, Kevin Durant, Luke Ridnour and Wally Szczerbiak.
Sonics Take Lead to Fourth
End Third Quarter: Sonics 70, Indiana 65
Well, we're not quite where I predicted yet in this game, but the Sonics will take the momentum to the fourth quarter after Kevin Durant scored a turnaround jumper with 0.6 seconds left in the third to give them a five-point advantage. Durant has been very efficient in putting 21 points on the board tonight, hitting 10-for-15 from the field. The Sonics continue to hold Indiana to 35.7% shooting from the field and 3-for-16 (18.8%) from downtown. They cut their turnovers in the third period down to three, which still isn't great but is an improvement from the first half.
Looking to Take Control
Third Quarter: Sonics 66, Indiana 64
It's dangerous going on the line like this, but I've got a little bit of a feeling that, while this is still a two-point game and was tied a moment ago, the Sonics are on the verge of opening up the kind of lead we haven't seen yet tonight. They seem to be the aggressors right now and are getting some nice play off the bench from Johan Petro, who has hit a couple of jumpers in the period. The Sonics have done a great job defending Danny Granger, who is 3-for-13 from the field tonight, though he has been able to get to the free-throw line nine times.
A quick reminder that the Sonics have several players making appearances tomorrow. Jeff Green will be at the T-Mobile retail store at Kent Station, while Nick Collison will be at the Southcenter T-Mobile. Damien Wilkins will be appearing at the adidas store downtown. Click here for complete details.
Back and Forth Quarter
Third Quarter: Sonics 60, Indiana 59
Plenty of ties and lead changes in this third quarter - in fact, I'm not sure either team has led by more than one point here in the period. The Sonics have done a better job of forcing turnovers in this quarter, but haven't been able to string together a couple of buckets for a run. Great play coming out of this timeout, however, as Kevin Durant's wingspan and some good off-ball defense forces the Pacers to take a 20-second timeout rather than get called for a five-second violation inbounding the ball.
Fun halftime with Dan Menendez, the Piano Juggler. No, he doesn't juggle pianos - he juggles balls and uses them to play a piano of sorts, and the results are very impressive. I caught Indiana forward Danny Granger enjoying the show while sitting in front of the media table here at courtside.
Sonics Lead at the Half
Halftime: Sonics 49, Indiana 48
Second quarters have been good to the Sonics lately, and tonight continued that trend. The Sonics had a 9-0 run early in the period and outscored Indiana 27-24 in the quarter. They'll take a one-point lead to the break, their first halftime advantage since holding a nearly identical 49-47 lead on Nov. 17 in Charlotte. Good balance for the Sonics in the first half with six players scoring at least five points. Earl Watson came off the bench to hand out seven assists. The Sonics also had an impressive eight first-half blocks.
The lone trouble area in the first half for the Sonics was a big one - turnovers. They shot 45.0% from the field to Indiana's 37.3%, but the Pacers are still very much in this game because the Sonics committed twice as many turnovers - 12 to six. Take better care of the basketball and the Sonics are in very good shape tonight.
Durant and Green Going Well
Second Quarter: Sonics 44, Indiana 43
Thus far this season, we haven't seen both Sonics rookies - Kevin Durant and Jeff Green - have good games at the same time very often. When Green got going, Durant hit a little bit of a slump. Durant has played better lately, but Green hasn't been quite as productive. Well, tonight both are locked in. Durant has 11 points on 5-of-8 shooting to go along with a pair of blocks in the quarter. Green has eight points on 4-of-5 shooting. He's faced a tough matchup with the much bigger Troy Murphy, who has been able to use his size driving to the basket, but Green has quickness in his favor and also came up with a nice steal going around a player posting up to take the ball away on an entry pass.
Incidentally, apologies that tonight's updates are a little spottier than usual. We're still working our way through some issues as we've moved to a new wireless system for the media here at the Key.
Matchup of Versatile Wings
Second Quarter: Sonics 29, Indiana 26
I love to watch the games within NBA games - certain interesting matchups or battles. Right now, we've got a good example with two long, versatile perimeter players playing against each other in Sonics rookie Kevin Durant and third-year forward Danny Granger, who has emerged as a go-to guy for the Pacers this season. Recently, Durant has had the upper hand. He blocked a Granger turnaround attempt, then hit a three-pointer on the other. I thought Durant got a hand on another blocked shot in the paint, though officially credit went to Chris Wilcox.
Give Kurt Thomas credit for his gritty play in the paint - Thomas has eight rebounds in 10 minutes of action. There have been plenty of boards to go around, as neither team has shot the ball particularly well - though the Sonics are heating up.
Threes Not Falling for Pacers
End First Quarter: Indiana 24, Sonics 22
Troy Murphy has to be cursing the rim here at KeyArena. Murphy's three-point attempt late in the first quarter swirled around the rim and then out, allowing the Sonics to go into the second quarter down just two points. As was the case for Orlando through the first three and a half quarters of Wednesday's game, the Pacers have struggled to find the range from downtown. Like the Magic, Indiana loves the threeball - only three teams in the league attempt more triples than the Pacers, though their percentage is just 20th in the NBA. Still, Indiana doesn't usually shoot 1-of-8 on threes, the team's first-quarter performance.
Sonics Get Production from Petro
First Quarter: Indiana 20, Sonics 16
In his first game back after missing a week with a strained lower back, Johan Petro played a quiet 11 minutes Wednesday against Orlando. Tonight, with a little more work in practice behind him, Petro has come out with some energy for the Sonics after Chris Wilcox picked up two early fouls. He's got two points and a couple of rebounds in three minutes, doing a nice job defending Indiana's David Harrison in the post.
The turnover differential - six for the Sonics to just two by Indiana - is the biggest reason the Pacers have taken an early lead.
Wilcox Powers Sonics Offense Early
First Quarter: Indiana 13, Sonics 11
Sonics forward Chris Wilcox is known for starting games quickly, and tonight is no exception. Wilcox has a bucket on his only field-goal attempt in three makes in four trips to the free-throw line, giving him a game-high five points in the early going. Jermaine O'Neal has been neutralized in his return to the lineup by two early fouls which have him on the bench. The Sonics have struggled early on with turnovers, committing four of them so far.
O'Neal to Start
Pregame
The Indiana Pacers will get All-Star center Jermaine O'Neal back in the lineup tonight. O'Neal has missed the last five games with swelling in his left knee and four of those have been Indiana wins, but I took a look in today's
Insider Preview and don't think that reflects on O'Neal's value. P.J. Carlesimo agrees, apparently. "They're a very different team with Jermaine," he said, citing O'Neal's ability to force double-teams in the post.
There was a school of thought that the Pacers would play O'Neal but not start him to ease him back into the lineup, but that will not be the case. Jeff Foster remains in a big starting five with Troy Murphy sliding to the bench.
Signing On
Pregame
Welcome to KeyArena, where the Sonics play host to the Indiana Pacers tonight on "Friday Night Live." The Pacers come to town riding the momentum of four wins in their last five games, including the first two games of their current West Coast road trip, but the Sonics swept the season series last year, pulling out a pair of thrilling finishes. It should be a good game between two teams with new head coaches who like to run, so stay with us all night long for the latest.
