Sports / Basketball |
Sonics knock down Lakers(AP)Updated: 2006-11-06 13:51 SEATTLE - Ray Allen scored 32 points and the Seattle SuperSonics picked up their first victory of the season by beating the Los Angeles Lakers 117-101 on Sunday night. Seattle overcame a sluggish start, finally displayed some defense absent in its first two games, and showed its expected offensive potency. Allen made 10 of 16 shots and added six assists. Seattle put five players in double figures and avoided its first 0-3 start since 1985, a needed victory with a five-game East Coast road trip starting Tuesday in Miami. Rashard Lewis added 25 points and Luke Ridnour scored 22 points with seven assists for Seattle (1-2). In his second game since knee surgery, Kobe Bryant led the Lakers (3-1) with 15 points, but was just 4-of-10 from the field. He added nine assists and was assessed a technical foul in the fourth quarter. The Sonics were allowing 114 points and 55 percent shooting in their first two games, continuing a trend from last season when they were the worst defensive team in the league. Los Angeles scored 118 against the Sonics on Friday, but the focus of Seattle's training camp finally emerged on Sunday. The Lakers shot 49 percent and turned the ball over 22 times. Seattle hit 12 3-pointers and outscored Los Angeles 66-41 in the middle two quarters. Seattle reached the 100-point mark on Allen's 3-pointer with 10:29 left in the fourth. The Lakers failed to improve to 4-0 for the first time since 2003, when they opened 5-0. Bryant scored 23 points in his season debut on Friday against the Sonics, but never found an offensive rhythm this time. At one point in the third quarter, Bryant threw an errant pass for a turnover, slapped his forehead two or three times running back down court, then committed a foul. Bryant was given a technical foul with 5:18 left for throwing the ball against the base of the basket after Brian Cook was called for a foul. Held scoreless in the fourth quarter on Friday, Allen scored Seattle's first 12 points of the fourth before Lewis' two free throws with 3:52 left. Seattle led by 26 late in the third quarter. Reserve Earl Watson added 12 points and Chris Wilcox had 10 for Seattle. Rookie Jordan Farmar scored 14 off the bench for the Lakers. Lamar Odom, who was averaging 28 points in the Lakers' first three games, took just six shots and scored 11 points. Andrew Bynum scored all of his 13 points in the first half. |
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