The Sonics beat the Hornets 94-74. This was the SECOND consecutive win for the Sonics without Ray Allen, who is out with a bad ankle. The rest of the Sonics are doing a tremendous job of stepping up and using the shots that they get when Ray isn't there. I'll get back to that subject later.
Damien Wilkins has been starting for Ray, and had 14 points, 4 steals, and 4 assists, plus only 1 turnover yesterday. What I'm proud of is how the forwards are really stepping up, something they haven't done in a long time.
Wilcox led the team with 19 points (7-10 from the free throw line) and 8 rebounds, but unforunately this performance was clouded by his 6 turnovers.
Collison, who has been playing at his peak this year, scored 8 points and grabbed 7 defensive rebounds (and one offensive board).
Rashard had 15 points, shooting 2-6 from the 3-point range, and grabbed five rebounds. Unfortunately, he too had turnover problems, with 5.
Although Luke Ridnour started, he wasn't the fifth main contributer. It was Earl Watson who was the big story of the night. Earl had 17 points, 7 assists, 5 steals, and only 2 turnovers in the 25 minutes he played (his longest start in a long time).
The Sonics shot 45.5% on their field goals as a team, and an impressive 77.8% from the free throw line (the Hornets only shot only 38.9% FG and 57.7% FT). Play of the game: Chris Wilcox gets the ball low, puts up a hook that bounces nice and easy straight off the rim, for Mickael Gelabale to slam it down, firing up the crowd and giving the Sonics even more momentum.Now back to Ray Allen.
The Sonics are proving that they can win without him. They played the Atlanta Hawks (8-10) and beat them, then the Hornets (9-9) and beat them. Now what they have to do is beat a team that has a winning record. Neither of their next two opponents have that. My point: if the Sonics can prove that they can win against good teams without Ray Allen, and that Ray Allen's absence helps the Sonics more evenly distribute shots, then he might be a marketing option. That sounds absurd, I can tell, but if the Sonics can beat a few good teams without him, then we might be looking at one crazy year as far as team changes.
There is nothing yet, but just a possibility in the future. Truth is, the Sonics have had more players with double-digits in the games without Ray then the games with him. Thus, the "Sonics" are winning, not "Rashard and Ray" are winning. Just simple speculation, and early speculation, so don't worry... yet. There are probably several people out there thinking the same thing.
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