Jazz run silences Sonics

Kevin Durant couldn't breathe as the air rushed out of his body before he fell to the KeyArena court, where he laid motionless beneath the Sonics' basket for several long seconds.

His teammates rushed to his rescue, huddled over him and waited for signs of life before he rolled over, smiled and gave assurances that he still had a pulse. Then he popped up and shared a few words with Utah forward Carlos Boozer, who had sent him crashing to the floor.

"It was no hard feelings or anything like that, I just wanted to let him know that I was all right and that I wasn't hurt," Durant said after Seattle's 112-93 defeat. "That's Boozer. That's how he plays. That's how they play. They're a tough team. They knock you down and things like that and they get away with it.

"He's a hard-nosed player. In this league, guys aren't going to give anything to you. You have to play hard and when you don't, teams will push you around."

Midway through the third quarter, Durant, who weighs 215 pounds, soared to the rim for what appeared to be an easy layup before Boozer, who weighs 266 pounds, met him in the air and delivered a hard forearm across his chest. The blow sent the Sonics rookie sprawling and sent an unspoken message to the Sonics, who held hopes of an upset until a fourth-quarter meltdown.

"We never matched their physicality or aggressiveness, and that's been a trademark of their team for a long time," Sonics coach P.J. Carlesimo said. "It's the third time their bigs have handled us inside.

"Usually when you play them, the most aggressive team wins. Their bigs in particular played very well."

Boozer orchestrated most of the mayhem in front of 10,168 at KeyArena on Wednesday. Not only did he provide the dirty work on the defensive end, the Utah forward had 22 points, 11 rebounds and 10 assists for his first career triple-double.

"That's the first triple-double I've had, [including] high school, college, AAU and NBA," he said. "It just means that I'm a selfish player. In the second half, they did a good job of collapsing on me and my teammates were wide open and I trust my teammates."

In the final game before the All-Star break for both teams, it was difficult to distinguish for most of three quarters which squad is aiming for a return to the Western Conference finals and which one is among the bottom feeders in the conference.

The Sonics overcame a 20-10 deficit midway through the opening quarter and trailed 27-24 after the first and 49-47 at halftime.

Durant, who scored a team-high 19 points, pulled the Sonics to 63-61 with two free throws after the hard foul from Boozer and minutes later Nick Collison tied the score at 67 on a layup with 4:11 remaining in the third quarter.

The Jazz ended the period with an 8-3 run, and led 81-73 entering the fourth quarter. Over the final 12 minutes, the Jazz showed why it leads the Northwest Division and has won 15 of the past 17 games.

Utah led 83-75 early in the fourth quarter before a 12-2 spurt gave it a 95-77 advantage. The Sonics never got closer than 10 points again.

"They stepped it up to another level," Durant said.

Deron Williams (17 points and 10 assists) and Mehmet Okur (20 points and 10 rebounds) each had double-doubles and Ronnie Brewer (16 points) and Paul Millsap (10 points) scored in double figures.

Damien Wilkins added 14 off the bench for Seattle, Chris Wilcox had 11 and Kurt Thomas had 10 points and 13 rebounds.

The Sonics (13-38) had won four of their previous six.

"We took some steps forward and did some good things the bulk of the last eight or 10 games," Carlesimo said. "But we took a big step back tonight in terms of being as competitive as we need to be."

Several Sonics bolted out of the locker room after the game, eager to begin their All-Star break, while reserve guard Delonte West sat in his uniform with a towel draped over his head for at least 20 minutes. A few players and assistants patted him on his shoulders, but he didn't move and was the last player to leave.

"The break will be good for everybody," forward Wally Szczerbiak said. "We kind of need to get away and clear our heads."

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