After the miracle playoff run of the previous season, hope had returned to Sonics fans that the team was on its way back to the big time. Though they were still an offense-oriented team, they had a pair of defensive aces in Nate McMillan and rookie Derrick McKey. On offense they boasted a triple threat of Dale Ellis, Tom Chambers, and Xavier McDaniel, each of whom averaged over 20 points per game. That was good enough to give the Sonics a 44-38 record in the regular season, third in the Pacific Division, and seventh in the Western Conference.

Attendance went up from 8600 per game to over 12,00 per game. People were energized to see this exciting young team.

But all was not good. Lenny Wilkens was in Cleveland, his second year removed from the Sonics. And while Seattle had drafted Scottie Pippen, rumor had it that Pippen did not want to play in Seattle. Whether or not it was true, Pippen never played for the Sonics. The Sonics' #5 pick was traded to Chicago for the rights to the #8 pick, Olden Polynice. Oops.

I suspect that they also reasoned that they were already deep at the small forward position, with Xavier McDaniel, McKey, and Dale Ellis.

The Lineup:

Center Alton Lister continued his unspectacular reign as the Sonics' starting big man. In 22 minutes per game (he played 82 games), Lister averaged 5.6 points, 7.6 rebounds, 1.7 blocks, and 3.9 fouls. The Sonics did not need him to score, and he proved to be a decent presence on defense. His points came almost exclusively from offensive rebounds.

Power Forward Tom Chambers continued to show spectacular moves to the basket, and was a threat from outside as well, including from the 3 pt line (33/109). He continued to frustrate Sonics fans on defense with his moody, porous style. The Hawk averaged 20.4 points, 6 rebounds, 2.6 assists, a steal, 3.6 fouls, and 2.5 turnovers per game. He loved to shoot from all over the court (44.8% field goals) and was a good free throw shooter (80.7%).

Forward Xavier McDaniel started at small forward, but given his rough, inside play, could just as easily have been called a power forward. Nonetheless, his rebounding totals dropped (by 2 rebounds per game) from the previous season. The X-Man was a highlighted performer on ESPN because of his spectacular power dunks. He averaged 21.4 points, 6.6 rebounds, 3.4 assists (a career high average), 1.2 steals, 2.9 fouls, and 2.9 turnovers per game. He shot 48.8% from the field -- most of his points came from inside.

Guard/Forward Dale Ellis spent most of his time at guard given the Sonics' depth at the 3 position. He continued to excel as a shooter -- the quick release on his jump shot and his great range made him a misery to guard. While shooting 50.3% from the field, and 41.3% from 3 point range (107 made), Ellis managed to put up 25.8 points per game (7th in the league.) He also grabbed 4.5 rebounds (nearly half offensive), had 2.6 assists, and 1 steal per game. Ellis remains one of the top shooters in NBA history.

Point Guard Nate McMillan, only in his second year, saw 30 minutes per game as the team leader on the floor. He averaged a career-high 7.6 points per game (scoring was never his strong suit) while shooting 47.4% from the field. He rarely shot from behind the 3-pt line, though later in his career he would become a better outside shooter. Mac averaged 4.1 rebounds, 8.6 assists (sixth in the league), and 2.06 steals (eighth in the league) per game. He had an impressive assist to turnover ratio of 3.7 to 1. He was quickly becoming known as a defensive stopper, not just for his stealing ability, but also because he played tough, body-hugging defense.

Key Reserves:

Rookie center Olden Polynice (7-0, 250), from the University of Virginia, was strong but without much of an offensive game. He was not a shot-blocker either. His minutes were limited (13 minutes per game) given the Sonics' rotation of Lister, Olden, and Clemon Johnson. Chambers saw time at center as well, when the Sonics wanted to run.

Rookie small forward Derrick McKey (6-9, 225), from University of Alabama, showed signs of being a defensive force. He had a decent inside scoring game as well -- 49.1% field goals, 8.5 points in 21 minutes per game. He was a decent rebounder (4 per game) given his limited minutes, but didn't get much love from the refs (3 fouls per game.) The 1st-round selection (#9 overall) made the All-Rookie team thanks to his reputation as a defender.

Guard Sedale Threatt, a fifth-year veteran, was added to the team in midseason from the Bulls, while the Sonics gave up little-used guard Sam Vincent (who ended up second in scoring for the Bulls.) He played 26 games for the Sonics (he missed several games due to injury), averaged 7.5 points in only 14 minutes per game, and shot 51.9% from the field. He was not a threat from behind the 3-point line, preferring instead to slash inside, which was common for shooting guards at the time.

Other backups included Kevin Williams, a fourth-year player in his second year with the Sonics. The 6-2, 180 pound shooting guard averaged career highs in scoring (6.3) and rebounding (1.6). He was not a long-range shooter. Russ Schoene, at 6-10 and 210, was the backup power forward. In 12 minutes per game he averaged 6 points and 2.4 rebounds. Point guard Danny Young (6-4, 175) was in his last year playing for Seattle, and saw little playing time. He went on to play as a reserve for Portland and a few other teams, given his decent ability to hit from behind the three point line and to handle the ball. (His assist-to-turnover ratio in Portland was awesome; in Seattle, it was quite unspectacular.) Center Clemon Johnson (6-10, 240) was in the final season of his 10-year career. He served as a capable backup in limited minutes.

Regular Season

The Sonics were excellent at home (32-9) and terrible on the road (12-29). They matched up well against high-scoring Portland (Clyde Drexler, Kiki Vandeweghe, Jerome Kersey, Kevin Duckworth and Terry Porter) and beat them 3-2 in the season series. They were probably hoping to meet the 53-29 Trailblazers in the playoffs, but instead were stuck against Denver, whom they had lost to 1-4 in the season series. Denver, with Alex English, Fat Lever, Jay Vincent, Michael Adams, and a young, promising Danny Schayes, was the highest scoring team in the league (116.7). They were also more aggressive than Portland on defense, and that posed problems for the Seattle offense.

Seattle scored 111.4 points per game, sixth in the league, and gave up 109.3 per game (seventh highest in the league.) Their 47.6% field goal percentage is good by today's standards, but the league thrived in fast breaks and inside play (48% was average.) On the negative side, they had the fifth worst free throw shooting in the league (74.8%) and fouled more than anyone. They were second in the league in offensive rebounding (16 per game) -- and fourth highest in missed field goals per game. As a team, the Sonics thrived on steals (third best), and forcing opponents' turnovers (also third best) but were near average in most other statistical categories.

Playoffs

Denver, at 54-28, had the second best record in the West, so they were Seattle's opponent in the first round best-of-five series. The first game was close, as Denver hung on at home to win 126-123. Denver, 35-6 in the Mile-high city, was nearly unbeatable at home. But the Sonics pulled out game two in a blowout, 111-91, as the Sonic defense finally got the Nuggets' number. The Nuggets missed a lot of shots over the course of the series.

Back in Seattle, a revved-up Nuggets team took game three, 125-114, while Seattle returned the insult in game four with a 127-117 victory. The deciding game of the series was back in Denver.

The Sonics looked sluggish and worn out. Perhaps it was the underrated Nuggets defense (they weren't the worst defenders, perhaps more like average) that stepped up as well. In any event, the Sonics lost 115 96, ending their hopes for a repeat of the previous year's miracle playoff run.

Overall, forwards Xavier McDaniel, Derrick McKey, and Tom Chambers had a good series, offensively. All three scored above their season average and well over 50% from the field. But Dale Ellis was not hitting from outside, and turned the ball over 21 times in the five-game series. Danny Young saw nearly as much time at point guard as did Nate McMillan. Nate had only 2 steals in the whole series.

But it was better than a few years past, when the Sonics weren't even in the playoffs.

Series Summary:

Playoff Series Summary: Player Totals
Player	Gm	Mn	FG	3PT	FT	OREB	DREB	TREB	AST	PF	ST	TO	BL	Pts
Chambers	5	168	50-91	0-2	29-35	8	23	31	11	24	3	13	1	129
McDaniel	5	180	45-81	4-8	12-24	12	24	36	25	15	3	11	1	106
D Ellis	5	172	40-83	3-12	21-24	11	12	23	15	17	3	21	2	104
McKey	5	109	24-38	2-6	10-17	7	13	20	8	12	3	5	5	60
McMillan	5	127	12-35	0-1	9-14	6	15	21	33	11	2	8	3	33
Young	5	95	11-21	0-3	10-10	3	7	10	19	7	2	7	2	32
Threatt	5	80	14-34	0-1	4-4	2	9	11	11	7	1	5	0	32
Lister	5	77	12-17	0-0	4-5	9	20	29	5	17	1	4	5	28
Schoene	5	39	7-12	2-4	0-0	1	6	7	2	8	1	2	0	17
KWilliams	5	70	7-16	0-2	0-0	6	2	8	9	15	3	4	0	14
Polynice	5	44	5-11	0-0	0-2	2	6	8	0	6	3	1	0	10
CJohnson	5	39	3-7	0-0	1-2	0	7	7	0	10	1	2	1	7
Playoff Series Summary:  Player Averages
Player	Min	FG	3PT	FT	OREB	DREB	TREB	AST	PF	ST	TO	BL	Pts
Chambers	33.6	0.549	0.000	0.829	1.6	4.6	6.2	2.2	4.8	0.6	2.6	0.2	25.8
McDaniel	36	0.556	0.500	0.500	2.4	4.8	7.2	5.0	3.0	0.6	2.2	0.2	21.2
D Ellis	34.4	0.482	0.250	0.875	2.2	2.4	4.6	3.0	3.4	0.6	4.2	0.4	20.8
McKey	21.8	0.632	0.333	0.588	1.4	2.6	4.0	1.6	2.4	0.6	1.0	1.0	12.0
McMillan	25.4	0.343	0.000	0.643	1.2	3.0	4.2	6.6	2.2	0.4	1.6	0.6	6.6
Young	19	0.524	0.000	1.000	0.6	1.4	2.0	3.8	1.4	0.4	1.4	0.4	6.4
Threatt	16	0.412	0.000	1.000	0.4	1.8	2.2	2.2	1.4	0.2	1.0	0.0	6.4
Lister	15.4	0.706	-	0.800	1.8	4.0	5.8	1.0	3.4	0.2	0.8	1.0	5.6
Schoene	7.8	0.583	0.500	-	0.2	1.2	1.4	0.4	1.6	0.2	0.4	0.0	3.4
Kwilliams	14	0.438	0.000	-	1.2	0.4	1.6	1.8	3.0	0.6	0.8	0.0	2.8
Polynice	8.8	0.455	-	0.000	0.4	1.2	1.6	0.0	1.2	0.6	0.2	0.0	2.0
Cjohnson	7.8	0.429	-	0.500	0.0	1.4	1.4	0.0	2.0	0.2	0.4	0.2	1.4
Team Playoff Summaries (Averages Per Game)
Team	Min	FG%	FG	3PT%	3PT	FT%	FT
Seattle	48	0.516	230-246	0.282	11-39	0.704	100-142
Denver	48	0.452	200-442	0.255	14-55	0.847	160-189
Team	OREB	DREB	TREB	AST	PF	ST	TO	BLK	PTS
Seattle	13.8	29.8	43.6	27.6	29.8	5.2	15.4	4	114.2
Denver	13.8	26.4	40.2	19.4	23.2	7	11.2	5	114.8