Sonics offer few answers as Knicks run and laugh

A few Sonics players talked in the showers, but there really wasn't much to say, and the locker room pretty much was silent after the game Friday night.

Their 111-93 loss to the lowly New York Knicks was about as bad as basketball can get. And the Knicks play in the lowly regarded Eastern Conference's Atlantic Division where no team is above .500, so they know bad basketball.

No wonder Sonics owner Clay Bennett didn't remain in Seattle long enough to see his team play.

Sonics coach Bob Hill said his players didn't compete, one of the few slivers of reality anyone seemed to offer after the game. Some Sonics players stuck to the mantra that they're trying to do too much and a healthy team would have made a difference, leaving anyone listening to ponder if those Sonics are trying to convince themselves or just living in fantasyland.

"[The failure to compete] has been like that for a while," said Earl Watson, who finished with his second double-double with the Sonics, posting a season-high 11 assists and 12 points. "I don't know why, every guy is different. We have to compete as a team. We have to come out and have to play, lose our self to the game and play with a lot of passion."

All-Star guard Ray Allen was double-teamed well by the Knicks and scored a season-low 11 points. But aside from rookie Mickael Gelabale and Watson providing a spark off the bench during a 10-2 run in the second quarter that cut a double-digit deficit to 38-31, the Sonics displayed little fight.

The one-on-one matchup with forward Danny Fortson and Knicks center Eddy Curry was a bust for Seattle as Curry moved his 6-foot-11, 285-pound frame easily through the paint for 27 points, making all nine of his attempts from the field. And when Curry was double-teamed, he helped swing the ball around the perimeter to watch both Stephon Marbury and Seattleite Jamal Crawford, out of Rainier Beach High, combine for 10-for-18 shooting from three-point range.

The game almost was a joke. And center Jerome James provided the punch lines, heckling his former team from the bench while Marbury supplied the jokes on the court.

"I've known Stephon since high school," Allen said. "Jerome is always going to be a friend of mine. I'd like to see him on this side. I wish he never left. But it's part of the game, you get heckled all the time.

"Guys are ready, it's just a matter of making plays," Allen added. "Damien [Wilkins], as well as he's been shooting the ball, he was getting so many open looks he felt like he needed to do something else. I told him to keep shooting it. Luke [Ridnour] is the same way."

Neither player shot well as Wilkins was 4 for 16 from the field and Ridnour was 3 for 8.

The Knicks (15-21) breezed to an early 9-2 lead after a Marbury three-pointer. Before long, New York took a 68-17 lead at half after another Marbury three.

The only challenge the Sonics (13-22) offered in the second half was when Hill finally put forward Andre Brown, who the team snatched from the NBA's Developmental League and signed to a 10-day contract Friday, in the game with 7:35 left. The 6-foot-9 forward played with enthusiasm, scoring eight points on 4-for-8 shooting and grabbing five rebounds.

Brown's play cut a 25-point Sonics deficit to 18.

"I know he was tired," Allen said of Brown, who had a five-flight day to get to Seattle. "I don't want to anoint him and say he's the answer to all of our woes, but just being feisty and having somebody with some athleticism, we'll see."

Despite their records, both teams are hopeful of making a postseason run. The Sonics' chances seem less likely as they've lost their third consecutive game and the eighth in their past 11 contests. The Knicks, which ended a five-game road swing with back-to-back wins, are a game behind New Jersey for the automatic bid in their division.

"We ended the road trip nicely," said Crawford, who finished with 22 points and seven assists. "Eddy Curry changed the game."

Jayda Evans: 206-464-2067 or jevans@seattletimes.com