Sonics run out of time vs. Suns

PHOENIX — Wally Szczerbiak didn't offer excuses for his costly late-game blunder. He slumped in a chair with his feet in a tub of ice and tried to explain why he called a timeout with 15.1 seconds remaining when the Sonics didn't have any timeouts.

He didn't know.

"Now I know how Chris Webber felt in the final game of the NCAA tournament," he said. "It's just unfortunate. It's one of those things. We lose together, we win together. Hopefully, we can learn from that, and that won't happen again."

The Sonics continue to invent ways to lose and Friday night, they sabotaged what might have been a thrilling comeback win over the Phoenix Suns. Szczerbiak failed to find an open man on an inbound pass and asked for a timeout that didn't exist.

Steve Nash made the ensuing free throw when Seattle was given a technical foul, and the Western Conference-leading Suns, who played without newcomer Shaquille O'Neal, held on to defeat the Sonics 103-99 in front of a sellout crowd of 18,422 at US Airways Arena.

When it was done, coach P.J. Carlesimo and Szczerbiak gave different versions of what happened on the sideline in the final minute.

Trailing 100-99, the Sonics called their final timeout with 28.3 seconds left.

Carlesimo said he thought he reminded the team they were out of timeouts. Szczerbiak said he never heard it.

On the next play, Chris Wilcox missed a point-blank layup in traffic and Johan Petro's putback rattled out. Wilcox failed to convert another layup during a scramble as the rebound rolled out of bounds, and the Sonics retained possession.

With Szczerbiak holding the ball on the baseline across from the Suns' bench, the Sonics scattered with defenders draped over them. As the crowd roared, the Sonics' sharpshooter turned to the official and asked for a timeout to avoid a five-second penalty.

"I just didn't know," said Szczerbiak, who scored 13 points on 5-for-8 shooting. "It's no one's fault. I just had no idea. Unfortunately, the game had to come down to that."

Said Carlesimo: "We made mistakes at the end, but the mistakes at the end aren't the ones that beat you."

The Sonics wasted brilliant defensive performances from Kevin Durant and Petro, each of whom only made 2 of 12 shots.

Petro, who had five points, offset his offensive struggles with seven rebounds and three blocks in almost 18 minutes.

As good as Petro was, Amare Stoudemire was better. The All-Star center finished with a game-high 33 points and 10 rebounds. He also converted 15 of 15 free throws as Phoenix (35-15) was perfect from the line and sank 32 shots.

While Petro patrolled inside, Durant (nine points) was spectacular on the perimeter defensively. He shut down Nash in the final quarter and forced the two-time MVP into a critical turnover that resulted in a fast-break dunk for Durant. After the rookie guard hit a free throw, the Sonics trailed 98-95 with 2:08 left.

Two possessions later, Wilcox gave the Sonics a 99-98 lead with a short floater, and it appeared Seattle would capture an impressive win.

With Durant harassing Nash, the Suns' guard threw the ball to Grant Hill, who launched an off-balance jumper over Szczerbiak that bounced on the rim four times before falling in with 28.7 seconds left.

Hill finished with 16 points and seven rebounds, Nash had 13 points and eight assists, and Leandro Barbosa scored 15 points off the bench.

"I think we were one play short," said Wilcox, who finished with a team-high 22 points and 15 rebounds. "That one possession where we had the ball around the basket trying to tip it in and we just couldn't get our hands on it."

Sonics guard Earl Watson, who had a triple-double Wednesday, received six stitches at halftime to close a cut over his left eye and finished with seven points, five rebounds and five assists. Nick Collison had 11 points and 12 rebounds.

The Sonics (13-37) had won four of the past five games.

"We played better tonight than we did in some of those wins," Carlesimo said.

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