Sonics avenge Thursday's loss to Blazers, 99-87

There are times when a dunk is worth more than just two points.

"It all depends who's doing the dunking," Earl Watson said after the Sonics' 99-87 victory over the Portland Trail Blazers. "Some people, when they dunk it, just sparks the crowd and gets everybody going."

Chris Wilcox is one of those people.

A cursory glance at the box score would suggest he had a pedestrian game Friday night. He finished with 14 points on 6-for-13 shooting and six blocks. Still, he left a large imprint on a game in which the Sonics led from start to finish and dominated the Trail Blazers defensively like no other team this season.

Wilcox punctuated Seattle's dominant performance with three poster-perfect tomahawk jams in the second, third and fourth quarters that literally sent the Blazers reeling.

"They way he dunks it, it's so powerful," Watson said. "It's almost deflating to the other team. It changes the momentum of the game. It gets the crowd going. It always gets a reaction no matter if you're at home or away.

"And for him it's major because it takes his focus to a whole 'nother level."

Wilcox loses focus when he doesn't get touches early in the game, so the Sonics point guards make sure to keep him involved. Just before halftime, Luke Ridnour led a 3-on-2 fastbreak with Damien Wilkins and Kevin Durant on the sprinting on the wings and Portland's Brandon Roy and Jarrett Jack in retreat. Ridnour dribbled to the rim before delivering a no-look bounce pass to Wilcox who trailed the play and soared above the Blazers for a monster jam.

The basket gave the Sonics a 52-35 lead, but the side effects were just as beneficial.

"I definitely think that sometimes those types of dunks get my teammates fired up and they get hyped off of that," Wilcox said. "It's nothing that you plan. It just happens. And sometimes you need a spark to get going."

Even before their victory, the Sonics (15-39) knew the margin separating them and the Blazers (29-26) was much smaller than what is now the 13 ½ games the keeps them apart in the standings.

In Portland's previous two victories against Seattle, the games were decided in the final minutes and the Blazers barely scratched out a four-point win at the Rose Garden on Thursday night.

This time the Interstate 5 rivalry was held inside the cozy confines of KeyArena, where a large contingent of Blazers fans were sprinkled among the 16,640 in attendance. The Sonics, however, gave their faithful plenty to cheer about.

They converted four of their first five field goals and raced out to an 8-0 lead before Portland registered a point. Seattle never let the Blazers get any closer than four points and stretched its lead to as much as 12 (29-17) in the period.

The Sonics forced the Blazers into 26 missed shots in the first half and Portland converted just 33.3 percent from the field before intermission. Seattle led 52-38 at the break and put the game away in the third quarter with a suffocating defense and balanced scoring.

"Our bench really gave us a big lift," coach P.J. Carlesimo said. "I think we were able to stay a little fresher because the guys off the bench gave us such good production. We were able to get out and run most of the night.

"We did a much better job of defensive rebounding than we did last night. It didn't hurt us as much as it did last night. Last night, every one they got, they converted. They got some threes on us. When we did rebound we got out and ran the ball, and ran the floor well. We had a lot of guys who played well."

The Sonics were so dominant, rookie Kevin Durant (17 points) was one of three starters who didn't play in the fourth quarter as Wilcox, Jeff Green and reserves Damien Wilkins (13 points and eight rebounds), Mickael Gelabale (12 points) and Luke Ridnour (11 points) finished off the Blazers.

Green and Gelabale held All-Star guard Brandon Roy to 19 points on 6-for-19 shooting. The former Washington Huskies standout also had six rebounds and five assists.

Despite a game-high 26 points from Travis Outlaw and 23 points from LaMarcus Aldridge, Portland converted a season-low 37.2 percent from the field.

"We never controlled the tempo of the game," Portland coach Nate McMillan said. "They played at their tempo pretty much most of the night."

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

PORTLAND
min		fgm-a	ftm-a	or-t	a	pf	pts
Roy	45:00	6-19	6-6	2-6	5	2	19
Aldridge	33:16	9-13	5-6	5-8	2	6	23
Przybilla	30:48	2-3	0-2	1-10	1	4	4
Blake	28:15	1-10	0-0	0-0	1	3	2
Jack	37:19	2-9	2-2	0-5	7	2	7
Frye	8:29	0-2	1-2	1-1	0	0	1
Webster	20:40	1-5	1-2	2-4	0	1	3
Outlaw	27:04	8-14	8-8	2-5	1	2	26
Rodriguez	2:57	0-2	0-0	0-0	0	0	0
LaFrentz	6:12	0-1	2-2	1-2	0	2	2
Totals		29-78	25-30	14-41	17	22	87

Percentages: FG .372, FT .833. Three-point goals: 4-18, .222 (Outlaw 2-2, Roy 1-3, Jack 1-6, Rodriguez 0-1, Webster 0-2, Blake 0-4). Team rebounds: 5. Team turnovers: 13 (11 PTS). Blocked shots: 4 (Aldridge, Frye, Przybilla, Webster). Turnovers: 12 (Aldridge 3, Roy 3, Przybilla 2, Blake, LaFrentz, Outlaw, Webster). Steals: 8 (Roy 3, Aldridge, Jack, LaFrentz, Outlaw, Rodriguez). Technical fouls: None.

SEATTLE
min		fgm-a	ftm-a	or-t	a	pf	pts
Green	29:08	3-7	2-2	1-9	1	3	8
Wilcox	34:24	6-13	2-2	3-6	0	4	14
Petro	17:51	3-3	2-2	3-6	0	3	8
Watson	26:32	4-10	2-3	0-4	4	3	11
Durant	28:20	6-17	5-5	2-4	0	0	17
Collison	21:15	1-3	0-0	2-2	1	4	2
Wilkins	29:59	4-9	4-6	2-8	2	1	13
Elson	11:23	1-4	1-4	0-0	0	2	3
Gelabale	19:40	4-6	2-2	1-1	2	2	12
Ridnour	21:28	4-6	2-2	1-4	3	3	11
Totals		36-78	22-28	15-44	13	25	99

Percentages: FG .462, FT .786. Three-point goals: 5-8, .625 (Gelabale 2-2, Wilkins 1-1, Ridnour 1-2, Watson 1-3). Team rebounds: 12. Team turnovers: 16 (13 PTS). Blocked shots: 3 (Elson, Green, Wilcox). Turnovers: 16 (Watson 3, Collison 2, Durant 2, Green 2, Ridnour 2, Elson, Gelabale, Petro, Wilcox, Wilkins). Steals: 5 (Watson 2, Collison, Durant, Elson). Technical fouls: None.

Portland	19	19	22	27 — 87
Seattle	29	23	19	28 — 99

Attendance: 16,640 (17,072). Time: 2:16. Officials: Joe DeRosa, Rodney Mott, Tommy Nunez Jr.