The Sonics got their first preseason victory, cruising past Cleveland. Seattle led by as many as 18 in the fourth quarter but let the Cavaliers sneak back into it at the end of the game.

Chris Wilcox led Seattle with 20 points and eight rebounds. Kevin Durant finished with 15 points and seven boards. And Wally Szczerbiak in his first action of the year finished with 14 points.

"This is a big step for us," Wilcox said. "It's the second game we've played, and you could tell there was a big difference. Guys came and worked hard the last couple days, and it showed on the court."

Seattle coach P.J. Carlesimo was pleased with his team's overall performance after the Sonics loss to Sacramento on Tuesday.

"The thing that I’m most proud about is they got some carry over, and they got some reward for how hard they worked the last two days (in practice)," Carlesimo said. "You could what they worked on, and it was evident on the floor."

Listen to Carlesimo's full conversation here.

Seattle's veterans Szczerbiak and Kurt Thomas seemed to provide more stability out on the floor for this young team. Szczerbiak played 24 minutes and his legs seemed to hold up okay. And Thomas also played 24 minutes, finishing with five points and nine rebounds.

"We definitely had a better defensive effort out there," Thomas said. "We're still growing. It's still early. We're still trying to learn each other out there on the floor, and find that comfort zone for each other. And it just comes in time."

Overall, Seattle's big men played well. Nick Collison finished with nine points and 11 rebounds. And Johan Petro totaled seven points and eight rebounds, fouling out with about eight seconds left.

A quick look at the stat sheet showed Seattle how thoroughly controlled this one. They outrebounded Cleveland 54-42, outscored them in the paint 40-24 and doubled the Cavaliers in second-chance points 24-12.
And defensively Seattle’s zone gave Cleveland fits. The Sonics held Cleveland to shoot 39 percent from the field (31-of-79), and forced 14 turnovers.

Now the next challenge for this team will be to see how they respond to playing back-to-back games on the road. Seattle will face Indianapolis on Saturday.