Sonics rally late, but can't land a win

The rambling about execution didn't stop with the seventh game, only this time Sonics forward Damien Wilkins knew exactly what and whom coach P.J. Carlesimo was talking about when spewing his latest rant.

Wilkins was still shaking his head in disbelief Sunday after another Seattle defeat, this time 107-103 to Detroit before 16,379 at KeyArena.

He took full responsibility for not executing during the fourth quarter and making a pass he probably wished was tied to a thread so he could have yanked it back.

Instead, with the Sonics rallying from a 23-point deficit to trail 101-99 with 1:37 left, Wilkins threw the basketball at teammate Kurt Thomas' back, which resulted in a Seattle turnover.

Detroit guard Richard Hamilton came up with the ball and after Thomas was screened hard by Pistons forward Rasheed Wallace, Hamilton made a 16-footer to put a chill into the Sonics' hopes.

"I turned it over and that blew it," said Wilkins, who finished with 13 points and three assists. "It was a dumb mistake. I took a dribble off and I should have taken another dribble to stretch it out a little bit and wait and see what happens. The way I came off and the way it looked to me, I thought he was rolling actually because I didn't see him. I looked at the basket and no one was there. I was like, 'Well, he's rolling, I can throw right to him.' But I took one dribble too few, got in the air and had nowhere to go."

Thomas, making his debut after missing his team's opening six games with a strained right hamstring, helped the Sonics close to two again with 18.5 seconds remaining, but that was as close as the Sonics got in dropping to 0-7.

The Pistons turned their locker room into a raucous celebration, improving to 5-1. The Sonics' locker room was eerily quiet. They join Golden State (0-5) and Minnesota (0-5) as NBA teams yet to win this season and they set a franchise record for most defeats to open the season.

"We were all very encouraged," Wilkins said. "We were very flat at the start of the game and that's what got us in that early hole. Our second team did a great job and got us back in the game and kept us in it pretty much. Toward the end of the game, we did do a better job of executing. That turnover just killed it."

The Sonics concluded a three-game homestand and leave today for a five-game road trip beginning in Orlando against former Sonics forward Rashard Lewis.

Carlesimo said he's not concerned about mounting losses deflating his team, just that it will be harder to collect victories on the road.

Seattle continues to make fourth quarters interesting, which is encouraging to the coaching staff. The Sonics outscored the Pistons 67-44 after trailing by 23 points to tie the score at 99 and had a season-low 13 turnovers. Seattle contained Detroit's hot three-point shooting, holding the Pistons to 2 for 12 after halftime.

But even with the obvious improvement with Thomas, a 13-year veteran, in the lineup, the Sonics couldn't wiggle out a victory.

"When you come from behind like that, you have to play perfect or pretty close to perfect and we didn't do that down the stretch," Carlesimo said. "We made some bad decisions. We tried some things we shouldn't be trying.

"There were so many positives; the first quarter is so negative, we didn't compete. It took us a couple of minutes to get going against Utah, to match their aggressiveness. It basically took us almost the entire quarter to match Detroit's. From that point on, we're fine."

Carlesimo benched guard Earl Watson and inserted Luke Ridnour into the starting lineup. He finished with seven assists and was 1 for 5 from the field for four points.

Thomas was a spark late, scoring six of his 10 points in the fourth quarter. Rookie Kevin Durant had 10 of his 19 points in the final quarter.

Thomas also had seven rebounds and two assists.

"I didn't want to come out and force shots," said Thomas, who tied the scored at 99. "I'm seeing some young guys that are going out there and leaving it all on the floor. That's all you can ask. We're not getting blown out. It's not showing in the win column, but it's definitely going to come as long as we keep fighting the way we've been fighting."

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