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Originally published Thursday, February 28, 2008 at 12:00 AM

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Notebook | A decade removed, George Karl still has Sonics in mind

Denver coach George Karl is approaching a milestone. In June, it will be 10 years since he coached the Sonics. Coincidentally, that's also the...

By Jayda Evans

Seattle Times staff reporter

Wednesday's game at a glance

Player of the game: Nuggets All-Star Allen Iverson gave his following something to cheer about, scoring a game-high 31 points on 13-of-18 shooting from the field. He also had six assists.

Play of the game: The Nuggets opened the second quarter with a statement. Forward Carmelo Anthony blocked a Nick Collison shot and Iverson grabbed the rebound to convert the defensive play into a powerful dunk for Linas Kleiza to make the score 35-21 with 11:06 remaining.

Digits: The Nuggets shot 67 percent from the field, a season high for a Sonics opponent. The club record is 67.1 percent set in 1986 by Phoenix.

Next: Miami, 7:30 p.m. Friday at KeyArena.

Denver coach George Karl is approaching a milestone.

In June, it will be 10 years since he coached the Sonics. Coincidentally, that's also the month when his former team's fate in the city will begin to be decided.

The Sonics and the City of Seattle will have their KeyArena lease case heard before Judge Marsha Peachman on June 16. She will decide whether owner Clay Bennett can break the arena lease to relocate the team to Oklahoma City.

Ten years ago, on June 17, 1998, Paul Westphal was named Karl's replacement. The Sonics announced May 26 that year that they would not renew Karl's contract. He coached the Sonics to a 61-21 record that season, losing 4-1 in a best-of-five series to the Los Angeles Lakers in the Western Conference semifinals.

"Every time I come up here I say I would be glad to talk or work with anybody," said Karl of reaching out to the grass-roots organization Save Our Sonics in pursuit of keeping the team in Washington. "I don't want to get into a fight with an owner, but I would be heartbroken if the Sonics leave Seattle."

When Karl was in Seattle, the Sonics were a constant threat in the playoffs and had back-to-back seasons of sellouts at KeyArena (1996-98).

"It doesn't seem that long," said Karl, who could coach his final game at KeyArena when the Nuggets visit April 6. "Even though there were battles and fights, we still won 55 or 60 games every year. I'd pray for another 55-, 60-win year. [And] this was a hot building. The court seemed to be closer and the energy was fun to be a part of."

Watson out

Sonics point guard Earl Watson missed his second consecutive game because of an upper respiratory infection. He did not show at the arena, and coach P.J. Carlesimo said he is uncertain of Watson's return.

Watson's absence gave Carlesimo another chance to start Luke Ridnour and further evaluate Mickael Gelabale along the perimeter.

Gelabale scored 16 points against the Nuggets.

DENVER
min fgm-a ftm-a or-t a pf pts
Anthony 29:58 7-13 2-2 0-6 3 3 16
Martin 30:34 11-14 1-2 0-7 2 3 23
Camby 37:23 6-9 0-0 4-14 4 4 12
Carter 38:03 4-4 3-4 0-4 12 0 12
Iverson 35:18 13-18 2-3 0-5 6 2 31
Kleiza 23:53 6-12 1-2 2-3 3 1 15
Smith 23:23 6-9 0-0 1-2 1 1 15
Diawara 8:56 3-4 0-0 0-2 3 1 6
Hunter 6:16 2-3 0-1 0-3 0 0 4
TGreen 6:16 1-2 2-2 0-3 1 1 4
Totals 59-88 11-16 7-49 35 16 138
Percentages: FG .670, FT .688. Three-point goals: 9-17, .529 (Iverson 3-5, Smith 3-5, Kleiza 2-4, Carter 1-1, Anthony 0-1, Diawara 0-1). Team rebounds: 3. Team turnovers: 17 (19 PTS). Blocked shots: 7 (Camby 5, Anthony, Hunter). Turnovers: 17 (Iverson 6, Anthony 5, Smith 2, Camby, Carter, Kleiza, Martin). Steals: 13 (Carter 4, Anthony 2, Camby 2, Kleiza 2, Iverson, Martin, Smith). Technical fouls: Defensive three second, 5:42 second; Anthony, 0:27.2 second.
SEATTLE
min fgm-a ftm-a or-t a pf pts
JGreen 33:02 4-15 6-6 1-2 1 2 15
Wilcox 33:06 4-7 1-2 1-4 1 0 9
Petro 31:51 7-13 1-1 3-8 0 3 15
Ridnour 17:15 1-5 0-0 0-0 3 2 2
Durant 33:57 4-17 8-9 3-6 2 2 16
Collison 16:36 3-7 1-2 2-5 0 1 7
Wilkins 21:03 4-10 0-0 2-3 3 2 8
Gelabale 27:41 7-13 0-0 1-3 4 1 16
Marshall 8:56 1-5 2-2 4-7 0 0 4
Newble 5:31 1-4 0-0 0-0 0 0 2
Elson 5:31 1-5 0-0 2-3 1 1 2
Griffin 5:31 0-1 0-0 0-1 0 1 0
Totals 37-102 19-22 19-42 15 15 96
Percentages: FG .363, FT .864. Three-point goals: 3-11, .273 (Gelabale 2-2, J.Green 1-6, Newble 0-1, Marshall 0-2). Team rebounds: 8. Team turnovers: 16 (22 PTS). Blocked shots: 1 (Petro). Turnovers: 16 (Wilcox 6, Durant 3, Collison 2, Gelabale 2, Ridnour 2, Marshall). Steals: 10 (Durant 3, Collison 2, Petro 2, Griffin, Ridnour, Wilcox). Technical fouls: None.
Denver 31 33 36 38 — 138
Seattle 19 26 30 21 — 96

Attendance: 13,627 (17,072). Time: 2:02. Officials: Ken Mauer, Michael Smith, Sean Wright.

Copyright © 2008 The Seattle Times Company

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