SONICS COACH NATE MCMILLAN:

On the game:
This was a tough game. The Clippers scrap and we knew they would. The first game was very similar. I thought in the second half we got involved in the scrap, and we won it. That’s what it’s all about when teams are coming out and playing small - we’ve got to get aggressive. We’ve got to win those battles; we’ve got to make the right reads and make the right adjustments when teams are trying to match up. I thought the hustle and the scrapping was the big part. I thought in the second half we did a better job and were able to pull out this game.

I thought tonight we made some plays. Ray (Allen) made some big shots in the game and Danny (Fortson) came up with some big plays.

On Fortson:
He brings energy and scrapping to the floor. That’s one thing that Danny does. He comes out and scraps and hustles. He’s physical, he works hard and I think the team feeds off that. He gives us opportunities on both boards by controlling the paint and limiting the team to one shot and you get an extra possession just because the guy in there working. That’s a motivational play. At home the crowd gets into it and the team feeds off it.

On the defense:
We have to get better. We had some breakdowns. Every breakdown we had tonight they scored off of. They were only shooting 39 percent in the first half. Every time we made a mistake on our switches or not communicating, it seemed like they nailed a three or an open shot. And when we did force the stop, they came up with second opportunities. Defense is about containing the ball, defending the ball and we had breakdowns which allowed them to stay in the game.

On Vladimir Radmanovic's performance:
He’s a star, he’s a sixth man. I think he’s one of the best sixth men in the league. We need him to come out and give us something every night. I need to know what I’ll get from him and his scoring is definitely something we need. But the defensive end of the floor is huge for us, and the last two games he’s been able to knock down some big shots and rebound the ball. He still can improve. We need for him to be consistent.

GUARD ANTONIO DANIELS:

On the game:
In the second half we upped the intensity, really the fourth quarter. We made them shoot some contested shots, rebounded and ran out.

On the Clippers:
Teams that have given us trouble in the past have played small ball and have the athletes and players to match up with us. Some of those athletic wing players that they have present problems. Tomorrow we need to go down there, buckle up and make it as difficult as possible.

On Rashard Lewis' late three-pointer:
We’re a much better team when the ball goes from hand to hand. No one really holds on to it, we penetrate, we kick and on that possession everybody touched the basketball. We ended up with Rashard hitting a three in the corner. That exemplifies what our team is all about.

FORWARD DANNY FORTSON:

On the Clippers:
They’re a very good team. We have a lot of respect for those guys. They’re very tough underneath. It’s going to be tough playing the team we played the night before but if we concentrate on what we did tonight, we’ll be successful. Ever since we’ve been playing well we thought about playing again against this team so tonight we found so motivation to go out there and win.

FORWARD VLADIMIR RADMANOVIC:

On the game:
At the end of the game each possession is really important, so the team that gets more stops is going to win the game. We had stops against Miami and again tonight and we’ll try to again tomorrow night.

L.A. CLIPPERS COACH MIKE DUNLEAVY:

On the game:
I was disappointed that we lost the game. I thought we did an awful lot of good things out there. We made some mistakes on the offensive end on turnovers that really cost us. I thought that in the fourth quarter that guys had really good position but we didn’t deliver the ball.

On the Clippers execution:
Our guys executed well in a lot of ways. There were a couple plays that got us. I give a lot of our guys credit … they played hard. The team played really well. Seattle has won a lot of good games.

On Allen's game:
Ray made a couple of big plays. I mean he has been their influence. He makes big plays when they need them. Our guys were all over him and he showed great concentration to be able to finish it.

On tomorrow's rematch:
Tomorrow night, we bounce back. We have to do a better job and learn from the mistakes we made tonight and hope we make the next jump up.

FORWARD COREY MAGGETTE:

On the game:
We have to tip our hats off to Seattle. In our first meeting we beat them by 30 and they were determined to win this game. They have so many good players on their team with Ray Allen, Rashard Lewis and Radmanovic that comes in. They have such a good team. The biggest thing is Radmanovic. He’s coming in and playing that four spot. That kind of puts us in a bind because he’s very mobile. He’s shooting the ball extremely well right now.

On tomorrow's rematch:
It was a good effort tonight. I think both teams played extremely well, but the best team tonight won the game. It’s going to be a different showdown tomorrow. They are coming back to our place, so we are going to be ready.

On the Clippers game plan:
We have a good low post presence. We wanted to start off getting the ball to (Elton) Brand and myself to try to make some plays. We anted to try to get them moving and have to play defense.

GUARD BOBBY SIMMONS:

On the game:
Any mistake at the end of the game could cost you. They are a great shooting team and they got a few open looks at the end of the half that cost us. We have to defend them a little bit better tomorrow and just come into the game being ready to play.

Notes: