SONICS COACH NATE MCMILLAN:

On the game:
This was a good effort by the guys in white. They kept working, they kept with the game plan and we finally broke in the fourth quarter and were finally able to knock down some shots. We couldn’t knock down a shot for three quarters and we finally were finally able to knock down some shots. Vlade (Radmanovic) and Rashard (Lewis), Ray (Allen) came to life in the fourth quarter. Great game. It was a great game by this team in white tonight.

On his advice for the Sonics shooters:
Just keep shooting the ball. We were hesitating with our shot, in the first and second quarter we had some open shots that we passed up. You've got to shoot that. Anytime you’re open you’ve got to let it fly. When you don’t, you break your rhythm. Your teammates are expecting you to shoot the ball and we didn’t do that. In the second half we came out a little looser and started to knock down some shots. The defense for four quarters was good.

On the Sonics defense on Kevin Garnett tonight:
Garnett is a great player. I thought our bigs made him work and we were able to control the rest of the guys out there.

On Allen's fourth-quarter performance:
He had open looks all night long and those are shots that Ray normally knocks down. He got in rhythm and started to knock down some shots.

GUARD ANTONIO DANIELS:

On the game:
This is not a sprint, it’s a marathon. We executed very well in the fourth quarter. We got the shots we wanted and started knocking down those shots down.

On what this win says about the Sonics:
Nothing. We expect to win. We’re supposed to win. We come out each game expecting to win these games. These are hard-fought games, playoff-type games. This is what we should expect from the last 29 games of the season. Nothing is going to be easy and we know that. Every game we play is going to have that playoff intensity.

GUARD RAY ALLEN:

On whether this was a fun game:
That’s what the people come here for. They want to see us at our best. They want to see Vladimir hit jump shots, us shoot the ball, Jerome (James) play, Reggie (Evans) get rebounds. They want to see all that. They know what our capabilities are. We all know how well we can play.

MINNESOTA COACH KEVIN MCHALE:

On the game:
We lost the momentum and I will tell you what. … We couldn’t generate anything. It was turnovers. We just killed ourselves. We competed hard for a while. We lost players and they just started putting their head down and driving. We did not contain the perimeter at all. They just put their head down and drove at will. They got layups, then they got into the penalty, then they started hitting some threes. That last 14 minutes of the game was just all them.

On his team:
We just didn’t do a good enough job of keeping people in front of us. The only thing you can do is keep on working. We have to get better in certain areas. We can’t have the turnovers we are having. Those are just killers.

On what he takes from the game:
There is nothing too encouraging. We did some good things early. The last 14 minutes of the game, they just went at us. We just did not respond at all.

FORWARD LATRELL SPREWELL:

On the game :
We turned the ball over and gave up the momentum. They did an excellent job of hitting shots. They shot the ball well from three. They penetrated and they created for each other. They just made good basketball plays. We didn’t help by turning the ball over.

On the Sonics:
Those guys are confident. Nate just lets them go and play freely. I don’t think they worry about it. They just go out and play comfortably. They have a lot of guys that can hit shots. That’s what they do and that’s what they are. They can’t change the way they play. You just have to go out there and do what you do.

Notes: