Same Old Story From Sonics

Wallace Puts Portland on Back, Sonics Again Fail in Clutch

Rashard Lewis, left, continued to step up his play in Vin Baker's absence, scoring a game-high 24 points.

Playing on the radio en route to the Seattle SuperSonics' game with the Portland Trailblazers this evening at Key Arena was a familiar song by Aerosmith. "It's the same old story, same old song and dance," went the hook, a line that would still be reverberating through my head as the clock ran down the final minutes of the fourth quarter.
It couldn't have been a coincidence, could it? Sure, that song was written and sung nearly three decades ago, but it perfectly described the Sonics' play as they collapsed down the stretch for the sixth time in their last eight games; all winnable matchups lost.
Just as they had in each of the other games, Seattle entered winning time in a prime position for a victory over Portland, who entered the night one half game better than the Sonics in the race for the seventh playoff seed in the Western Conference.
A Peja Drobnjak fast-break dunk put the Sonics into a tie at 77 apiece with 4:57 remaining in the ballgame. Just over a minute later, the team appeared to be putting their history behind them when Gary Payton, struggling through a 5 of 16 shooting night, buried a three pointer from the left side of the arc to give the team an 80-78 lead they needed to nurse for but three minutes and forty-one seconds.
They managed twenty-five; Rasheed Wallace, having his way in the post with a defensively overmatched Rashard Lewis, was fouled and made both free throws. After a pair of missed three point attempts, Seattle finally managed to get a play moving towards the hoop. Rookie Vladimir Radmanovic, in the game because Brent Barry was forced out after being poked in the eye, drove the lane strong and was fouled in the act of shooting.
Following a full timeout, Radmanovic, a 72% free throw shooter on the season, stepped to the line and promptly missed both attempts as a deflated KeyArena sellout crowd descended into stunned silence. The Blazers answered by going back to Wallace, whose jumper over a flat-footed Lewis gave Portland back the lead.
As the back-and-forth game entered its final two minutes, both offenses went silent. Seattle's Desmond Mason missed a hurried jumper just inside the three point line and Drobnjak was called for a loose ball foul, sending Portland's Dale Davis to the free throw line. Davis, who dominated the boards with 13 rebounds, matched Radmanovic by missing both tries. The Sonics' Lewis had a good look at a three that would have given the team the lead; it was off. The Blazers' offense broke down in the halfcourt, leading to a forced three pointer by Ruben Patterson which predictably bounded off the rim into the hands of Payton before Seattle called timeout.
Desperately in need of a score, the Sonics looked to use Mason to exploit a sizeable height mismatch against defender Damon Stoudamire. He drove from the left wing, getting just to the edge of the lane before putting up a runner that was too strong. Wallace, doing it all down the stretch, commanded the rebound, and it was he who Portland went to. Once more matched up against Lewis, Wallace would not be denied. Despite a tenacious effort by Lewis, Wallace powered through contact and rattled in a shot in the lane to give Portland a comfortable four point lead with 23 seconds left.
After a Sonic timeout, Lewis dribbled into a three from the top of the arc. It was off, and fittingly Wallace stepped up to the free throw line to make two more attempts and put the game away. A meaningless Barry layup with three seconds left broke a Sonic dry spell of 218 seconds to produce an 88-82 final.
The loss snapped a three-game Sonic winning streak built since forward Vin Baker was injured, and the common threads through those wins were not present. Although Drobnjak was solid, Baker's other replacements, Jerome James and Art Long, were ineffective in 24 minutes. The bench was also less productive, as Portland's reserves managed to outscore Seattle's 20 points.
However, perhaps the biggest reason for the Sonics' offensive ineffectiveness was the poor play of the backcourt of Payton and Barry. Though they combined for 16 assists, they made just 10 of 28 shots while scoring 27 points. That's production some teams would take from their guards, but with Seattle's dependency on the backcourt, it was not enough.
The Sonics stayed in the game thanks largely to the efforts of Lewis, who scored 24 points on 9 of 16 shooting and recorded a career-high six steals.
In addition to Wallace, who scored 18 points on just nine attempts, Portland received strong offensive contributions from reserves and former Sonics Shawn Kemp and Patterson, who both heard boos from the crowd. Patterson scored 11 points on 5 of 7 shooting, while Kemp added 10 points and 6 rebounds.
From the opening tip, Portland and Seattle went back and forth, with neither side opening up a lead of more than the six points established by the Blazers at game's end, and Seattle only briefly able to take control of the momentum and rally the crowd behind them.