The Sonics have regained their momentum, as they defended the "hardwood" and held off the Hornets, 102-94. Despite losing point guard Chris Paul in the first quarter, the Hornets kept tight with the Sonics, and the game was tied excitingly at the end of the third quarter, 72-72. But then the Sonics pulled ahead in the final minutes, and kept going until the end. The Sonics have now won two in a row, after losing 6 straight.
Luke Ridnour (the leading point guard for those who don't know) led the Sonics this time in scoring, with 27 points, and also had 9 assists. Luke has stepped up this year and raised his scoring average by over 4 points from last year. Chris Wilcox was a truly powerful presence in the paint, scoring 22 and grabbing 10 rebounds, his 5th double-double of the season. Ray Allen, as I mentioned before, had 21 points and 8 assists. He was a little off his rhythm with free-throws, though. He was 3-6, although previously his free throw percentage was an outstanding 91%.
These two wins in a row can be somewhat credited to the return of Ray Allen, coming at no better a time than when Rashard Lewis- the Sonics second-leading scorer to Allen (and first while Allen was hurt)- injured his hand tendons badly enough to keep him out two months. Allen scored 21 points, on 7-15 shooting from the field, and had 9 assists. In their previous win, Allen scored 28. Two other large factors lately have been Chris Wilcox and Luke Ridnour. Luke has been shooting the ball a lot more this year (and more accurately), and is having success on the drive. When Luke drives, he either makes a nice layup high off the backboard, or he finds somebody to give it to for an easy shot. Wilcox is one guy that opponents absolutely cannot afford to allow the ball to get to. When Chris gets the ball within five feet of the basket, he is gonna score, and if you want to stop him, you're going to have to foul him. Which is another mistake too, because Wilcox (a power forward by the way) shoots almost 70% from the free throw line.
On my basketball team, we were playing against a team with a very tall, strong player who would get fouled often. Guess what? He made every single free throw that game except one. That's the only shot he needed to practice. We lost by three. Those free throws made a huge difference. Free throws a large part of the NBA too, especially with big forwards that get fouled often, but miss their free throws. Chris doesn't miss too many, and he gets fouled a lot. It's a good combination.
The Sonics look forward to facing the Denver Nuggets (still without Carmelo Anthony due to his 15-game suspension from fighting in the Knicks-Nuggets brawl) and Allen Iverson, newly acquired from Philadelphia by Denver. Iverson has a double-double in both of his games with the Nuggets, and hopefully the Sonics can stop him from getting a third. But the Sonics will have to do it without Ray Allen, who will be absent due to the birth of his son. Congratulations Ray, and good luck Sonics!
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