Eric Williams covered the Sonics' last season in Seattle. A Tacoma native, Eric graduated from Mount Tahoma High and the University of Puget Sound.
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39 -- Orlando’s Dwight Howard was a monster inside for the Magic, finishing with 39 points, 16 rebounds and five blocked shots.
"The way Dwight was playing, they didn’t have an answer for him," Orlando coach Stan Van Gundy said. "One guy couldn’t stop him. Two guys couldn’t stop him, so they put everybody on him."
17-2 -- Seattle cut Orlando’s lead to one point, 93-92, with 4:35 left, but the Magic finished on a 17-2 run to close out the 110-94 victory.
0-7 -- Seattle’s still winless at home. They’ve got four more games at KeyArena before heading back out on the road for a five-game trip in December.
9 -- That’s how many points Rashard Lewis had in his return to Seattle. Lewis shot a dismal 3-of-19 from the field.
"I was a little hesitant all night," Lewis said. "I was reminiscing and looking around at everybody and talking but it was good to get the win, especially coming back here in this building."
14 -- Seattle’s Kurt Thomas had a career-high 14 rebounds, along with six points tonight.
Boxscore -- Check it out here.
Durant watch -- He struggled from the floor (6-of-21) but still led the team with 22 points. Durant got to the foul line, shooting 10-of-10 from the free-throw line. He continues to be aggressive getting to the rack late in games.
Did you see that? -- Pick any dunk by Howard tonight. I think there were at least 10 of them, and usually a Sonic was underneath the basket trying to get out of the way.
Overheard -- "He’s unstoppable. He’s the next Shaq," uttered a fan from behind press row watching Howard dismantle Seattle’s defense.
Final take -- I talked to Luke Ridnour before the game and he said he’s feeling close to being ready to go. It’s been two weeks since Ridnour tore his left quad in Orlando Nov. 13. He shot some baskets before tonight’s game, and is hoping to get the OK to do some running in the next few days. But it will probably be at least a week before Ridnour is ready for game-time action.
Listen to the conversation with Ridnour here.
Seattle was competitive on the second of a back-to-back night against one of the hottest teams in the league, and actually closed the game to within a point after looking like they were going to get blown out in the third quarter.
But again, we’re talking about moral victories here. At 2-14 overall, Coach P.J. Carlesimo has to be working hard to keep the locker room together. With 12 guys with different agendas and the team struggling to get some wins, it seems like the Sonics are on the edge of fracturing somewhat, although everyone continues to toe the company line in interviews.
It will be interesting to see which guys continue to stick with the program as the losses keep mounting.
Having Kurt Thomas in the middle certainly helps Seattle’s cause. Thomas does all of the little things that keep the Sonics in games. The Sonics need more glue guys like Thomas to help finish games at the end.
COMMENTS:
I can say one thing for sure here. It is pretty easy for a pretty decent center on any team to have the kind of night that Howard did when the opponent really has no TRUE center. Such as in the case of the SONICS.
I am not saying Kurt is not a decent player because he is if you need him off the bench or if you start him. He would be much better use however as a forward on any team.
This leads me to another question here. After seeing a game like that come out of the opposition's center, why do the SONICS year after year not up trade for a center? Even a young one with SOME talent. We could have traded Ray Allen for one with some of the extra forwards we have like Chris Wilcox. I bet we could have got someone really good to.
Don't get me wrong here. I like the Green kid. He should be starting with Durrant coming off the bench in my opinion. Let Wilcox and Thomas share minutes at center for now and also play Szcerbiak alongside Green as a starter as well. Hmmm just a thought here but I doubt ANYONE on the SONICS bench has this idea.
Honestly and really the SONICS haven't had a true good enforcer at Center since Marvin Webster. Oh yes can't forget Jack Sikma but he played more like a good rebounding forward and surely was no shot blocker like Dwight Howard shows that he is.
It's going to be fun to watch Dwight for years to come and he will be a fixture on my NBA fantasy teams probably for years to come as well.
Keep up the Great work Eric :)
Howard is a frightening beast of some crazy genetics - he no doubt will be in a GI Joe movie of some sort before hes out of the limelight.
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