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With a shot by Trail Blazers guard Derek Anderson in overtime, the Sonics' winning streak evaporated and their playoff dreams were shoved back into fantasyland last night behind a 115-108 loss to Portland at the Rose Garden.
The Sonics (34-39) have been living on borrowed time the past two weeks, turning
a six-game losing streak into prayer to advance to the postseason for the first
time since 2002. But after being outscored 15-8 in the extra period last night,
Seattle's time seemingly expired.
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Seattle entered the game one of the hottest teams in the NBA. The Sonics' electric winning streak abruptly stopped at seven. And since Utah defeated Denver 85-83 to claim possession of eighth place in the Western Conference, the postseason most likely will move on without Seattle.
The Sonics' elimination number is four with nine games remaining, meaning any
combination of Utah wins or Seattle losses will oust the Sonics.
The Sonics would lose a tiebreaker to the Jazz (38-35) because Seattle dropped
the series 1-3. Also in the mix are Denver (38-37) and the Blazers (37-35),
who are a half-game behind the Jazz.
"It doesn't get any easier. It almost seems impossible because we have
to win the rest of these games," said Sonics guard Ray Allen, who finished
with a game-high 32 points. "The impossibility comes from knowing who we
have to play and knowing we have to win the rest of those games.
"About three to four weeks ago (I) was asked if this team had quit and
I said I believed everybody was ready to play basketball. I still believe that.
It's going to come down to the last game."
With the exception of Dallas and the defending champion San Antonio Spurs, the
Sonics have defeated all of their remaining opponents earlier in the season.
But their game against the Los Angeles Clippers to end the season is their only
matchup against a team with a sub-.500 record, and five of those games are on
the road.
Seattle begins its new trek, playing at Denver on Tuesday at the Pepsi Center.
"We'll keep playing. As I told those guys, we'll regroup and take it one
game at a time," said Sonics coach Nate McMillan. "We talked about
playing hard ... regardless of whether we're in the race or out of it. That
will not change."
No one could deny watching the Utah score. The Blazers aired the final seconds
during a timeout with 6:20 remaining in the third quarter. As the scoreboard
showed the Jazz celebrating, McMillan was fuming on the bench about Portland
taking a 64-56 lead. Allen had only one basket in the quarter.
Two dunks by guard Ronald Murray helped the Sonics claw back from a 10-point
deficit and send the game into overtime at 100-100. Murray's forceful dunk over
Portland forward Zach Randolph gave the Sonics a 100-98 lead with 22 seconds
remaining in regulation.
Randolph quickly responded after a timeout, however, sending a nice floater
over center Vitaly Potapenko to tie the score.
Sonics forward Vladimir Radmanovic missed a three-pointer at the buzzer. The
play was designed for Allen, but when center Theo Ratliff surprisingly jumped
out to defend him, Allen kicked the ball out to an open Radmanovic.
"I wish he moved in a little bit," Allen said. "All we needed
was two points, really one point. I don't think I gave him the greatest pass,
but it was all I had."
In overtime, Anderson's long jump shot gave the Blazers a 111-108 lead with
a minute left, and the Sonics didn't score again.
Long before Radmanovic's missed three-pointer, the Sonics had opportunities
to steal the game. Instead they had 18 turnovers, which Portland turned into
23 points. And the Sonics committed 27 fouls, giving the Blazers 42 free-throw
attempts.
All five of Portland's starters scored in double figures. Randolph had 25 points,
Damon Stoudamire 23 and Anderson 22.
Murray finished with 19 points off the bench for Seattle. Yet after combining
for 52 points to help the Sonics defeat the Nuggets on Friday, the bench accounted
for only 26 points last night.
"We've had a streak of seven games here. We've done a lot of good things
and a lot of good things have bounded our way," said guard Brent Barry,
who had 12 assists while playing with a bruised left hip. "We put the type
of effort in that we can be proud of. It's disheartening in that we didn't get
beat. We beat ourselves."