Free at last! The Sonics finally broke through against a lifeless Miami Heat team 104-95, led by the two most consistent players on the team thus far, Chris Wilcox and Damien Wilkins. Wilkins got the night started off right with 8 first quarter points as the Sonics jumped out to a 30-25 first quarter lead. The Supersonics then put the game away in the 2nd quarter, dominating in a 31-16 fashion, and building a lead as large as 21 points. Miami battled back in the 2nd half, but the game was never in doubt.
The Sonics put on a rebounding clinic, with Wilcox, Nick Collison and Kurt Thomas grabbing 10, 11, and 9 rebounds respectively. The Sonics domniated the defensive glass to outrebound the Heat 52-34. This helped offset the Sonics -10 turnover differential, as the Sonics again had 22 turnovers.
With Ridnour on the bench, Delonte West had his finest overall game as a Sonic, scoring 16 points, dishing 6 assists and grabbing 4 rebounds in 29 minutes of playing time. Earl Watson played a typical Earl Watson game scoring 8 points to go along with 6 assists in 24 minutes of playing time. Watson's stat-line actually looks pretty nice for a backup point, but he doesn't seem capable of putting up 'starter' stats.
The Sonics blistered the net from behind the arc, hitting 10-19 from behind the stripe with West, Wilkins and Durant combining to go 9-16. Speaking of Durant, he had another tough night shooting the rock, finishing 6-16 for 18 points. Sadly his 37.5% shooting is almost perfectly in line with his 38% season shooting. While he continues to miss shots, Durant was extremely effective in third quarter going 3-4 while draining two of his three 3's on the night. He's showing flashes, but he's going to have to start knocking down shots, or taking higher percentage looks. Steady play at the point guard position wouldn't hurt, but teams starting to respect Damien Wilkins will help more. Despite Wilkins' excellent shooting from outside, teams aren't giving him the respect he's probably earned, instead focusing on keeping Durant in check. So far, the league is succeeding.
At some point, Coach Carlesimo is going to have to give Chris Wilcox 35-40 minutes per game, every game. By limiting him to 30 minutes a night, he's limiting his most efficient offensive player and only credible low post threat. I'm not sure what the thought process is here. Maybe he doesn't like Wilcox's defensive intensity (thank God Earl Watson can't play power forward).
Best lineup, 11/14/07
Collison
Wilcox
Wilkins
Durant
West
Enjoy the off day boys, you earned it.
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