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SuperSonics beat Kings, lead conference
Ray Allen kept things going for Seattle, and Jerome James wasn't kidding when he said he had another big game in him.
Allen scored 26 points and James added 19 points and nine rebounds, leading the Seattle SuperSonics to a 105-93 win over the Sacramento Kings on Tuesday night for a 2-0 lead in the Western Conference playoff series.
Rashard Lewis scored 12 points and Vladimir Radmanovic added 10 for the Sonics, who took control with a decisive third quarter, then held off a fourth-quarter charge with the Sacramento starters on the bench.
Mike Bibby had 16 points and eight assists, a respectable follow-up after his 1-for-16 shooting effort in Game 1. Bobby Jackson scored 17 points after going 0-for-7 in the opener, but it wasn't enough.
Game 3 is Friday in Sacramento.
The Sonics ran away from the Kings in the third period, outscoring Sacramento 33-20 behind a balanced attack. The Seattle offense was fueled by tight team defense, with the Sonics forcing six turnovers in the period.
James keeps playing beyond expectations, shooting 9-for-11 from the field with two big baskets in a 15-6 burst to open the third quarter.
Seattle's center had 17 points, 15 rebounds and five blocked shots in Game 1, and his continued production was a welcome surprise for the Sonics — especially since the big man has a reputation for struggling after having a big game.
Bibby, Peja Stojakovic, Kenny Thomas, Cuttino Mobley and Brad Miller — all of Sacramento's starters — spent the fourth quarter on the bench, trying to ignore taunts from nearby fans as they rested for Game 3.
Stojakovic scored nine points on 3-for-10 shooting, and the Kings shot only 42 percent from the floor.
The Kings weren't finished after their rough third period, however. The reserves started the final quarter and outscored Seattle 17-2 over the first 3:47, forcing Sonics coach Nate McMillan to take a timeout to reorganize.
Sacramento got as close as 100-92 after Jackson's 3-pointer with 2:33 remaining, but Allen found James for an easy basket with 1:07 to play, and Lewis came away with a big rebound after Eddie House missed a jumper.
The Kings trailed 55-44 at the break, but they'd nearly survived a similar situation in Game 1. Sacramento was down 55-40 at halftime on Saturday, then charged back within 83-82 with under a minute to play before losing.
This time, the Kings were off-balance to open the second half and the Sonics sure made them pay.
Seattle opened the third period with a 15-6 run over the first five minutes to lead 70-51 after Luke Ridnour's 3-pointer from the left corner.
James had two baskets in that burst and also reached the free throw line after making contact and drawing a foul on Miller, who was so frustrated he was assessed a technical foul for arguing with referee Sean Corbin.
Nothing seemed to go Sacramento's way in the third. A loose ball foul that initially went against Seattle's Reggie Evans was reversed by game officials for a foul on Thomas.
And the Sonics? They looked unstoppable. James banged into Miller and Thomas every time down the floor, but it never threw his shot off — he made his first five attempts — until he bumped Brian Skinner and put up an airball midway through the period. North Carolina coach Roy Williams, who recruited Seattle's Nick Collison and Sacramento's Greg Ostertag to play college ball at Kansas, had a second-row seat. ... Knicks G Jamal Crawford, a Seattle native, sat near the Kings bench with former University of Washington G Will Conroy. ... Daniels brought the NBA championship ring he earned with San Antonio in 1999 to motivate teammates. "Anytime you have something visual, it always helps," he said.
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