Grizzlies suffocate Sonics again

So much for the Sonics' resurgence. Any momentum accrued from the past week when they won two out of three games quickly dissipated in the opening moments of Wednesday night's 99-74 defeat against Memphis.

"We weren't very good at anything," coach Bob Hill said. "We just weren't there. We didn't respond physically. We didn't respond mentally. We just got our butts kicked."

The Grizzlies have a way of undermining the Sonics. They've won all three meetings this season with a deliberate offense and suffocating defense that has held the Sonics to two of their three lowest scoring performances.

Seattle's 74 points was the third-lowest of the season.

"I don't think it had anything to do with their tempo," Hill said. "We couldn't make a shot in the first quarter. Ray [Allen] couldn't make a shot. Luke [Ridnour] couldn't make a shot. Anything that was close was in and out.

"Knowing them the way I do, that became a little disheartening and that hurt because they are so offensive minded. If we shoot like we normally do, it still wouldn't have helped win the game, but it would have kept us in the game."

As it was, the Sonics (23-38) were out of the game by the end of the third period, when they trailed by 19 and the late-arriving crowd of 15,521 at KeyArena vented its frustration with a flurry of catcalls and jeers.

"They had every right to boo us," Damien Wilkins said. "You pay your money and see something like that, I'd boo, too. All I can say — and I think I pretty much speak for the entire team on this one — is this is one of those games that you put behind you as soon as possible and move on."

Wilkins and Hill did most of the talking for the Sonics after their worst defeat since the trading deadline because the locker room cleared out immediately after the game.

They were left to explain how the Sonics shot just 2 for 14 (14.3 percent) on three-pointers and converted 27 of 78 field goals (34.6 percent), while Memphis collected a season-high 51 rebounds, distributed 28 assists and committed just nine turnovers.

"I've been through nights like this before where they are just not there," Hill said. "It was just a bad night. The worst night we had in a long time."

Under a hail of three-pointers from guards Chucky Atkins and Bobby Jackson, the Grizzlies (34-27) torched the Sonics, primarily Ridnour, from the perimeter. Atkins finished with 15 points on 5-for-12 shooting, and Jackson had 15 points off the bench.

All-Star Pau Gasol quietly fashioned the first triple-double of his four-year career and finished with 21 points, 12 rebounds and 12 assists as the Grizzlies led from start to finish.

Memphis built a 20-10 lead late in the first quarter and never looked back, while the usually potent Sonics struggled to keep pace and were held 27 points below their season average.

Allen managed just 10 field-goal attempts and accounted for 18 points, nearly seven below his average, and Rashard Lewis scored eight on 4-for-12 shooting.

Memphis coach Mike Fratello forced the ball out of the hands of Seattle's two stars and made the Sonics rely on Earl Watson and Wilkins, as well as rookie center Johan Petro (11 points and 10 rebounds).

Playing their first game without forward Nick Collison, who will miss the next month with an injured foot, the Sonics started Chris Wilcox and appeared out of sync. He had eight points and eight rebounds.

"We missed Nick, no question about that," Hill said. "Especially the way Nick was playing.

"I'm not going to make any excuses for him. Chris got a chance to start and didn't respond as well as we had hoped. But you can't point your finger at him because none of us did."

Percy Allen: 206-464-2278 or pallen@seattletimes.com