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Originally published Thursday, January 24, 2008 at 12:00 AM

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Sonics Notebook | Carlesimo doesn't address losing streak

Losing streak? What streak? P. J. Carlesimo didn't spend much time before Wednesday's game addressing the Sonics' losing streak, which is...

Seattle Times staff reporter

Wednesday's game at a glance

Player of the game: Coming off the bench, Tracy McGrady scored a game-high 28 points on 13-for-23 shooting. He also finished with five assists and four rebounds in 34 minutes.

Play of the game: Late in the second quarter, Kevin Durant drove hard to the basket and ran into Shane Battier. As he stumbled awkwardly, the Sonics rookie threw up a shot that bounced off the back rim, rolled around and fell through for a 52-43 lead.

Key statistic: The Rockets connected on 11 of 23 three-pointers while the Sonics were 1 for 8 behind the arc.

Up next: Atlanta, 7:30 p.m. Friday at KeyArena

Losing streak? What streak?

P.J. Carlesimo didn't spend much time before Wednesday's game addressing the Sonics' losing streak, which is at a record 12.

"I haven't talked specifically and said it's X amount of games," he said. "It's not something that any of us aren't aware of. I don't think it's like the pink elephant and I'm not worried about talking about it or anything like that. You don't lose track of things like that."

The streak snapped a 10-game mark set during the inaugural 1967-68 season. Seattle has a 13-game losing streak over two seasons, which includes five consecutive losses last season and eight this season.

"It's there and it's not going to go away," Carlesimo said. "I don't think anybody is going to cooperate with us. I think we're going to have to play our way. The same way we got the other wins is how we're going to have to get the next one. It's not going to come easy."

Durant's Nike

sneaker design

almost completed

Kevin Durant, who signed a six-year, $60 million deal with Nike last summer, said designs for his signature basketball shoe are nearly complete and the sneakers are expected to hit stores spring 2009. He helped design the model, which is green and gold.

"In the summertime, the people from Nike came and followed me around and incorporated everything I told them into the shoe like where I grew up, where my mother worked, where I ran up the hill and where I went after school," the Sonics rookie said. " It was fun. They told me I basically controlled what I wanted in the shoe. It was cool."

It's unclear how much the pair will cost. Last year, Durant said he did not want his shoes to be expensive or exceed $100. He was also unsure of the name of the new shoes.

"Maybe KDs or K-Smooves," he said. "That part is up to them."

Flight delay

means long day

The Sonics were delayed returning home from a four-game trip Monday. There was a plane malfunction that wasn't discovered until mid-flight, causing the team to make an emergency landing in Oklahoma City.

Chris Wilcox said the team was due to arrive in Seattle at 8 p.m. and didn't officially land until 1:30 a.m.

"It was a very long day," the Sonics forward said.

Notes

Mouhamed Sene scored a season-high 26 points for the Idaho Stampede last week. The Sonics center is averaging 12.6 points, 8.5 rebounds and 2.1 blocks in 10 games. The Sonics haven't discussed calling up Sene, but Carlesimo said: "He's doing way more good there and it's doing way more good for him than it would be if he were here."

• C Robert Swift has begun individual workouts and may be in team drills soon, Carlesimo said. Swift, who underwent knee surgery Oct. 25, 2006, has missed 37 games this season due to right knee tendinitis.

• Houston G Aaron Brooks, the former Franklin High standout, bought more than 100 tickets for family and friends who watched his first NBA game at KeyArena.

• F Nick Collison and Swift will read to students at Dunlap Elementary at 2 p.m. today.

Jayda Evans contributed

to this report.

HOUSTON
min fgm-a ftm-a or-t a pf pts
Battier 41:00 4-8 0-0 1-4 3 3 11
Hayes 14:36 0-2 0-0 2-4 1 2 0
Yao 41:32 6-13 14-15 6-12 6 1 26
Wells 18:33 2-8 0-0 0-1 3 1 4
Alston 38:55 6-18 1-2 1-3 8 4 18
McGrady 34:30 13-23 1-6 1-4 5 0 28
Scola 23:03 3-6 0-2 0-5 2 3 6
Brooks 6:00 1-2 0-0 0-0 0 3 3
Landry 14:48 4-4 0-1 0-2 0 6 8
Head 7:00 2-4 0-0 0-0 0 1 5
Novak 0:03 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0
Totals 41-88 16-26 11-35 28 24 109
Percentages: FG .466, FT .615. Three-point goals: 11-23, .478 (Alston 5-9, Battier 3-7, Brooks 1-1, Head 1-2, McGrady 1-3, Wells 0-1). Team rebounds: 12. Team turnovers: 8 (13 PTS). Blocked shots: 3 (Hayes 2, Yao). Turnovers: 7 (Yao 3, Wells 2, Head, McGrady). Steals: 4 (Battier 2, Hayes, Scola). Technical fouls: None.
SEATTLE
min fgm-a ftm-a or-t a pf pts
Green 18:37 1-3 2-2 0-0 2 3 4
Collison 38:39 1-7 1-2 5-14 2 5 3
Thomas 26:18 6-7 4-5 1-5 0 4 16
Durant 33:06 12-23 1-1 0-3 1 1 25
Watson 24:35 4-7 2-2 0-2 6 0 10
Wilcox 15:12 1-4 2-4 1-3 0 5 4
Petro 14:27 3-3 3-4 1-5 0 2 9
Szczerbiak 30:47 7-12 7-7 0-4 3 1 22
Ridnour 23:25 5-10 0-0 0-0 8 1 10
Wilkins 14:54 2-5 0-0 0-0 1 1 4
Totals 42-81 22-27 8-36 23 23 107
Percentages: FG .519, FT .815. Three-point goals: 1-8, .125 (Szczerbiak 1-3, Ridnour 0-1, Durant 0-2, Wilkins 0-2). Team rebounds: 18. Team turnovers: 10 (9 PTS). Blocked shots: 4 (Durant 2, Green, Petro). Turnovers: 9 (Collison 4, Watson 2, Szczerbiak, Wilcox, Wilkins). Steals: 2 (Szczerbiak 2). Technical fouls: Defensive three second, 5:17 first; Defensive three second, 9:34 third.
Houston 24 26 28 31 — 109
Seattle 25 34 24 24 — 107

Attendance: 12,342 (17,072). Time: 2:20. Officials: Bennett Salvatore, Derrick Collins, David Guthrie.

Copyright © 2008 The Seattle Times Company

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