Seattle Sonics @ Chicago Bulls, 12/13

I can't say that this game went too well for the Sonics, who lost 99-84. But give a lot of credit to the Bulls, in main respect to Ben Wallace (15 points, 8 offensive rebounds [20 total], 5 blocked shots) and Ben Gordon (27 points, 4-8 3-pointers, 6 assists, 3 steals, 7-8 FT). Again, a problem with the Sonics was TURNOVERS. The Sonics lost this part of the game to the Bull by a score of 18 Sonics TO to 10 Bulls TO. The Bulls were playing truely unselfish basketball, passing that ball until they had the best shot they could find, and not rushing anything. The Bulls had a combined 30 assists that game, to the Sonics' 21. And when they missed that shot, there was Wallace, working his hide off getting those 8 offensive rebounds. Chris Wilcox, our usual presence in the paint, was being shut down by Ben Wallace last night. Guess who stepped up?

Johan Petro; 16 points, 8-12 FG, 10 rebounds, 1 steal, and 1 blocked shot, in his bench performance. However, he had 3 fouls in 30 minutes, and he needs to get used to guarding the driving wings, who would easily draw a foul from him on their way to the basket.

Rashard Lewis, fighting almost without the team (again), scored 18, grabbing 13 rebounds, getting 1 pick, and blocking 2 shots. This guy deserves more than he gets, in my opinion.

Yet again, there wasn't much coming from Ridnour, with a meager 11 points on 4-14 shooting. That's hardly any good. Normally he would make up for this with his leadership in passing, but he had only 2 assists in his 30 minutes of play. Who stepped up this time?

Mike Wilks, who had 6 assists in his 24 minutes, drove the ball to the hoop, and tried to get a rally going (which the Sonics did, at one point, to go on an 11-2 run in the 3rd quarter). Also, Desmon Farmer had 4 assists in 11 minutes.

Damien Wilkins has really been stepping up in Ray Allen's empty spot this whole time. He scored 16 points last night, grabbed 8 rebounds, and passed for 7 assists.

Nick Collison, trying his best again, but falling on his face a few times, scored 5 points, and blocked a shot, although he too, like Wilcox, was shut down by Wallace on the post. Despite this, the Sonics outscored the Bulls 42-36 in the paint, though mainly due to the ballhandling and driving of the guards and Rashard Lewis and Damien Wilkins. The Sonics were truely beaten last night. The Bulls shut down their front line, and the second line wasn't quite enough. But I must give a lot of credit to Petro, who played strong that game when Wilcox and Collison couldn't break through. Look for Petro playing more, but not a ton more, because of all the fouls he commits that aren't necessary.