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Mavericks Scorch nets, Sonics
11 Threes, 52% Shooting Too Much for Shorthanded Sonics
By SonicsKevin
Art Long, left, started at center and worked free repeatedly for layups and dunks, scoring 12 points.
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He may be wearing a different uniform, he may be coming off the bench, but Nick Van Exel is the same old
Sonic killer that he's always been. After a trade to Dallas, however, the effect may be even greater, for now
Van Exel has the teammates with the Mavericks that they don't need his contributions to win, but they sure
don't mind them.
Tonight, Van Exel stepped up his play at the perfect time. The Seattle Supersonics had rallied from a deficit that went as high as 18 in the third quarter on the back of Desmond Mason, who scored a team-best 25 points, to trail by only seven entering the fourth quarter, 91-84. A basket on the first possession of the quarter cut that lead to five before Van Exel struck. Sonic reserve Shammond Williams got lost defensively, and Van Exel had an open three which found its mark. Four more Sonics points later, Van Exel came free again and made his second three inside of two minutes. After a stop, Dallas got the ball to Steve Nash, who made the team's second straight three pointer. The 6-0 mini-run pushed the Mavericks' lead back up to 10 and forced a Sonic timeout. From that point on, the Sonics failed to get the lead down to four again, getting as close as seven before a Michael Finley three put the game to bed and a late implosion by coach Nate McMillan, who was ejected for the first time in his career as Seattle head coach in the culmination of frustration with referees that had led the Sonics to already pick up three technical fouls during the game. Connecting at the free throw line, Dallas easily finished out an impressive 119-108 victory. However, it has to be considered a moral victory that the Sonics were as close as they were early in the fourth quarter at all. Short-handed without Vin Baker, Vladimir Radmanovic, Calvin Booth, and Earl Watson, they were also facing a Dallas squad that came out motivated after a scare on Saturday, beating the Golden State Warriors by only two points in the American Airlines Center. As a result, the Mavs came out en fuego from the field, scoring 35 points in the first quarter and making four of their 11 three pointers for the game. Dallas led by as many as 12 early in the game, giving the impression that the home squad might run the Sonics out of town. The Sonics were able to finish the quarter strong on a 7-2 run to close the lead to just seven. The second quarter brought more of the same, as the Sonics struggled with foul trouble for Gary Payton and a thin bench that essentially amounted to just nine because of McMillan's decision not to use center Jerome James, who had started the Sonics' last 17 games, whatsoever. Two of those nine were Olumide Oyedeji, who came into the game having played only 117 minutes this season and guard Randy Livingston, making his Sonic debut after signing a 10-day contract last Friday. Without either of those two playing in the second half, Seattle was down to a seven-man rotation. The Maverick lead extended as far as 16 in the second quarter, 48-32 at the 7:18 mark, with Dallas again looking poised to put the Sonics away. Dallas got a lift from reserve guard Greg Buckner, who scored nine of his 11 points (on 4 of 4 shooting) in the second quarter. However, six straight points by Payton prior to halftime allowed the Sonics to keep the deficit at a manageable 11. Again in the third quarter, Dallas ran off to a big lead early and saw it cut. This time, Dallas' lead reached its pinnacle, 18 points, and the Sonics responded with a heavy dose of Mason, whose jumper was butter in the second half. However, thanks to Van Exel's heroics and the exisisting trio of Finley, Nash, and Dirk Nowitzki, the Mavericks were too much down the stretch. The big three plus Van Exel combined to make 30 of 58 shots and score 85 points, with the most effective being Finley, who made 10 of his 14 tries and scored a team-best 26 points. On the other side, the Sonics had balance, with all five starters plus Williams scoring in double figures. It still wasn't enough to outscore a potent mix for the Mavericks.
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