SONICS: Live From the Press Box - Sonics vs. Philadelphia

Live From the Press Box - Sonics vs. Philadelphia

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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.

Sixers Hold Off Sonics
Final: Philadelphia 98, Sonics 90

The Sonics battled in this fourth quarter, but a comeback was out of their reach tonight as the Philadelphia 76ers made enough plays to hold them off for a 98-90 victory. Philadelphia Head Coach Maurice Cheeks clearly isn't feeling well, but getting a win will have to make him feel better. Andre Iguodala, who hit numerous difficult shots on his way to 25 points, made big plays. So too did Louis Williams, who came off the bench to score 13 of his 19 points in the final period.

For the Sonics, point guards Earl Watson and Delonte West played well in tandem during the fourth quarter, helping lead the comeback. Jeff Green continues to thrive in a starting role. Tonight he scored 16 points and handed out six assists, a career high. Nick Collison recorded a double-double up front and Kurt Thomas extended his glass dominance by pulling down 13 rebounds. A lot of guys played well today, and P.J. Carlesimo is fond of saying that usually that means a win, but the Sonics were unable to overcome a poor second quarter.

Have a safe and happy New Year's Eve, everyone. Then it's time to turn our attention to 2008. The Sonics will hit the road on Wednesday for a four-game road trip that starts in Phoenix but will take them to the East Coast. Our next game at KeyArena is not until Jan. 11, when the Sonics will host the Dallas Mavericks on Friday Night Live. Get your tickets now to see a Dallas Mavericks team featuring MVP Dirk Nowitzki, Josh Howard that is hoping to turn last year's playoff disappointment into a run at a championship this season.

Sonics Down Five
Fourth Quarter: Philadelphia 93, Sonics 88

The bad news is the lead is two possessions for the Sixers. The good news is the Sonics have possession after a Sam Dalembert travel. They'll look to execute coming out of the timeout to get within position to tie with a stop and a score.

West Finding Ways to Score
Fourth Quarter: Philadelphia 89, Sonics 86

Entering the fourth quarter, Delonte West was having a tough night. He'd scored just two points and had missed four of his five shots. Here in the fourth, however, West has taken over the game in several different ways, scoring 11 points on 5-of-7 shooting. He's mostly operating off of the high pick-and-roll, but has also isolated and hit a wing three in transition a moment ago to get the Sonics within three.

The order of the day for the Sonics remains stops. An Andre Iguodala alley-oop plus the foul was painful, and now Louis Williams is headed to the free-throw line after being fouled in the act. Williams has been a big part of the Sixers holding off the Sonics - for now. I asked P.J. Carlesimo about him before the game.

"I think he's very talented," said Carlesimo. "I liked him from when I first saw him, but obviously when you first saw him he was very young and very raw - making the jump all the way from high school. The quickness, the ability to handle and the ability to score ... I'm impressed with his three-point percentage this year. He's sneaky good (from three). "The thing you look for is improvement. He, to me, seems to be making incremental improvement. Each time you see him, he looks different than the last, which is what you're looking for in a young guy."

Sonics Move Within Five
Fourth Quarter: Philadelphia 86, Sonics 81

The second three-pointer of Jeff Green's NBA career has brought the Sonics within five points, the closest they have been since the 2:41 mark of the second quarter. Maurice Cheeks, sensing the KeyArena crowd becoming a factor, takes timeout (though the fans are still up for the Allstate Fan Dance). The Sonics have worked their way back into a respectable performance on offense, scoring 47 points since halftime and hitting 6-of-13 from downtown. They have not been as successful on defense, but have gotten some key stops in the fourth quarter. Can they get some here and move even closer?

Sonics Making Up Some Ground
Fourth Quarter: Philadelphia 81, Sonics 74

12-8, the Sonics have had the upper hand during this fourth quarter of play, cutting Philadelphia's lead to seven. Earl Watson has caught fire for the Sonics, scoring 14 of his season-high 18 points since halftime. Watson has made three three-pointers, including one earlier this quarter with former Denver teammate Andre Miller screaming right behind him on the 76ers bench.

Sixers Head Coach Maurice Cheeks walked to the locker room late in the third quarter, coughing into a towel and looking sick. Assistant Coach Jim Lynam took over active coaching duties. Fortunately, Cheeks was able to return a couple minutes into the fourth. There was another head coach in the building: I spotted former New York and Houston head man Jeff Van Gundy before the game. The ESPN color analyst was apparently here as a fan.

Iguodala Beats the Buzzer
End Third Quarter: Philadelphia 73, Sonics 62

A Delonte West jumper figured to bring the Sonics within single-digits as we headed to the fourth quarter, but Andre Iguodala knocked down a long three-pointer from just left of center, beating the buzzer and giving Philadelphia an 11-point advantage. The Sonics outscored the 76ers in the third quarter, but didn't make enough of a dent in the lead, shaving just one point off to get within 11. They'll need a quick start to the fourth quarter.

Earl Watson, Delonte West, Damien Wilkins Johan Petro and Kurt Thomas will take the floor for the Sonics to start the period.

Sixers Turn Away Sonics Surge
Third Quarter: Philadelphia 68, Sonics 58

The Sixers have made pushes to try to expand the lead, but the Sonics have been able to maintain contact. As the Sixers take a timeout with a little under three minutes left in the third quarter, it's a 10-point advantage for Philadelphia. That's close enough that the Sonics can make a run and get right back in this game.

After tonight, the schedule will give the Sonics a break when it comes to getting Kevin Durant and Chris Wilcox back in the lineup. The Sonics have two days off before playing in Phoenix on Thursday, the start of a road trip. They'll have two more days off before playing Sunday in Washington, meaning Durant and Wilcox could get more than a week's worth of rest by missing just one more game - though they hope to play before then.

"I think they're both day-to-day," said P.J. Carlesimo of their status going forward. "I just think it's pain. The good news is they're not structural. Weezy's MRI was negative for whatever it is MRIs look for. ... It's a lot of pain. One guy maybe can't run or jump and the other can't catch the ball, which is kind of a problem for playing basketball."

Sixers Turn Away Sonics Surge
Third Quarter: Philadelphia 58, Sonics 45

The Sonics started the second half with some crisp execution on offense and got within seven at 52-45. Since then, however, Philadelphia has gotten six straight points capped by a Rodney Carney dunk to push the lead to its largest mark, 13 points. P.J. Carlesimo took timeout to try to get his team back on track.

Jeff Green gave the Sonics an early shot of infusion, again taking the ball to the basket fearlessly. Green's 13 points lead the Sonics tonight, and he's handed out five assists. However, Philadelphia is now up to 50.0% from t he field, and the Sonics are unlikely to win allowing that kind of shooting.

Rough Second Quarter for Sonics
Halftime: Philadelphia 46, Sonics 34

Philadelphia finished the first half with a 12-2 run to cap a quarter that saw them outscore the Sonics 25-11. That's one of the lowest-scoring quarters of the season for the Sonics (they had just nine points in the fourth at Utah a few weeks go). They shot 5-of-21 (23.8%) and missed all four three-point attempts. The Sonics have been unable to get to the free-throw line tonight, hitting just one foul shot in two attempts.

There have been some good looks that just haven't fallen tonight for the Sonics, but they also need to do a better job of executing and play with more aggressiveness in the second half. We'll see if they can do that.

Short-Handed Bench Slumps
Second Quarter: Philadelphia 38, Sonics 32

The Sonics have gotten great production lately from their reserves, including 59 points of bench scoring in Saturday's win over Minnesota. Tonight, two of those reserves (Nick Collison and Wally Szczerbiak) have been forced into action as reserves, while Delonte West and Damien Wilkins have had quiet nights. Those guys should be able to get it going in the second half, but for now that's a reason why the oft-friendly second quarter has not been good to the Sonics tonight.

There's a reunion of the 2002-03 Sonics tonight. None of those players still play for the Sonics, but three - Calvin Booth, Reggie Evans and Kevin Ollie - are on the Sixers roster. That was my first year as an intern for SUPERSONICS.COM, and I'm pretty sure Booth, Evans and Ollie were three of the first profiles I did that season. Speaking of Seattle basketball memories, UW legend Todd MacCulloch is here. MacCulloch serves as the color analyst for Sixers radio broadcasts.

Sonics Shots Not Falling
Second Quarter: Philadelphia 32, Sonics 29

The Sonics shooting percentage has taken a dip in the second quarter to 42.4% for the game. They've hit 3-of-10 in the quarter as the Sixers have rallied to take their biggest lead of the evening.

The Boom Squad Danceoff is quickly becoming one of my favorite on-court promotions. You get all kinds of dancing ability, and the bad dancers might be as fun - or more - than the good ones. So far, the, ahem, more girthful contestants have had a lot of success.

Philadelphia Bounces Back
Second Quarter: Sonics 29, Philadelphia 29

Yesterday afternoon, the Philadelphia 76ers had a very tough fourth quarter in Portland. Leading by one going into the period, Philadelphia was outscored 35-9 over the final 12 minutes of play and lost by 25 points as the Blazers extended their winning streak to 13 (the streak ended tonight, however, as Portland lost in Utah).

Maurice Cheeks was asked about playing a back-to-back before the game, and thought it was probably a positive.

"I think it's good for us to get right back out and play," said Cheeks. "You don't want to have that linger."

After the game in the locker room, Sixers point guard Andre Miller was reminding his teammates of the chance for redemption. "Don't worry about it," Cheeks quoted Miller. "We've got another game tomorrow - we'll be better tomorrow night."

I'm not sure if there was any carryover as the Sonics got off to a quick start, but you'd be hard-pressed to prove there has been any at this point as the two teams have been back-and-forth in this second quarter of play.

Defense Carries Sonics
End First Quarter: Sonics 23, Philadelphia 21

Strong defensive quarter for the Sonics. The 76ers shot 37.5% in the first quarter of play and had only two offensive rebounds to 12 defensive boards for the Sonics. Iguodala finished the quarter shooting 1-for-7, the biggest reason Philadelphia struggled on offense. The Sixers did get some momentum on defense in the second half of the period, in large part because Samuel Dalembert was so active. He blocked four shots and goaltended another.

Gordan Giricek has made his Philly debut after checking in for the final 1.9 seconds of the first quarter. Giricek was acquired by the 76ers along with a conditional first-round pick for forward Kyle Korver in a trade consummated on Saturday.

Testing Green
First Quarter: Sonics 21, Philadelphia 18

Tonight's matchup will see Sonics forward Jeff Green defend Philadelphia's Andre Iguodala when the starting lineups are on the floor for both teams. With Iguodala's versatility and ability to score in a variety of ways, Green will be challenged tonight. That's the kind of thing P.J. Carlesimo was talking about, presumably, when he explained he wanted to see Green (and others) in starting roles, matched up against front-line players. So far, so good. Iguodala has a three-pointer, but has missed four of his five shot attempts.

The Sonics have controlled the first five and a half minutes of this game. Wally Szczerbiak's three-pointer a moment ago, gave the Sonics a 13-6 lead, their largest of the evening so far. They've held the Sixers to 3-of-11 (27.3%) shooting and used some opportunities in early offense to build the lead.

You can definitely tell it is New Year's Eve. Lots of people dressed in their finest, preparing to go out after the game. There are also fans with New Year's-themed hats and glasses.

Strong Start for Sonics
First Quarter: Sonics 13, Philadelphia 6

Nice aggressive start for Jeff Green, who has taken the ball hard to the basket and has a pair of powerful dunks to his credit.

Durant, Wilcox to Sit Tonight
Pregame

Sonics guard Kevin Durant and forward Chris Wilcox will both miss tonight's game with injuries suffered on Saturday against Minnesota. Durant is wearing a pad on his left hand to protect his sprained left index finger, but still is having trouble catching the basketball, which will force him to sit for the first time in his NBA career. An MRI showed no structural damage to Wilcox's sprained left knee, which means he (like Durant) is day-to-day, but he is also unable to go tonight.

The Sonics will change up their starting lineup to replace Durant and Wilcox. Wally Szczerbiak will make his first start of the season at shooting guard and Nick Collison will step in for Wilcox at power forward.

Signing On
Pregame

Happy New Year to all our readers! The Seattle SuperSonics and their fans are ringing in the New Year tonight right here at KeyArena. We're about five hours away from starting 2008, and about 15 minutes away from tipping off tonight's game. We're the last tip-off in the NBA tonight (Minnesota plays the Clippers in L.A. at 6:30 p.m.), so we should have the very last NBA action of 2007. Before getting to your New Year's celebrations, stay with us all night long for the latest action.