Sonics
Notebook: Team looks to get above even before New Year

By Jayda Evans
Seattle Times staff reporter

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HOUSTON — Need another sign that an era has come to a close with the Sonics' organization? How about their record heading into the new year?

For the past 11 seasons the Sonics have been above .500 heading into a new calendar year, not including the lockout-shortened season of 1998-99, which began in February. The last time the Sonics concluded December with a losing record was during the 1990-91 season, when the team was 12-15.

After last night's win, the Sonics (14-14) need a victory tonight at Memphis to continue the streak.

Last season the Sonics were 16-15 leading into January.

Is there anyone home?

Gary Payton will return to KeyArena as a Los Angeles Laker on Friday, but Sonics coach Nate McMillan is still waiting for a call he made to Payton to be returned. McMillan's call came last season, when Payton was traded to the Milwaukee Bucks. The two were close friends and former teammates. Payton even bought McMillan a Rolex watch.

"I understand that he could be bitter," McMillan said. "He wanted to retire in Seattle. (During the trade) he probably looked at me as being part of that. When he's ready to talk, we'll talk and we'll go from there."

Nice digs

Everything is bigger in Texas. And the Rockets' new arena, which sits on 775,000 square feet, fits that characteristic.

The $235 million Toyota Center opened downtown this season, catching the eye of the Sonics, who were making their first trip to the 18,500-seat arena.

"It's a big, beautiful building," McMillan said. "I still like the Key (KeyArena). The setting is more intimate, and the fans are right on top of you. But this is nice. It's not too big like the United Center (in Chicago)."

Forward Rashard Lewis, who attended high school in the area, wasn't interested in the high-tech gadgets. All that mattered to him were the spanking-new surroundings.

"It doesn't matter if it's ugly or not, as long as it's new," he said. "I like to look at nice stuff."

The arena has yet to spike attendance. The Rockets average 14,929 fans a game, below the league average of 16,589.

Note

• Lewis gobbled up about 20 tickets from his teammates and purchased another 70 to get 90 family members into last night's game. Even though they live in the area, it was their first Rockets game at the Toyota Center.

Game at a glance

Player of the game: Sonics guard Ray Allen rebounded from a poor game against Minnesota on Saturday to score a game-high 28 points last night on 9-of-21 shooting.

Reserve of the game: Crowd favorite Eric Piatkowski played 17 minutes and scored 14 points off the bench for Houston.

Digits: The Sonics, who shot 35.4 percent, are 2-6 when shooting below 40 percent. Both wins are against Houston.

Next: Memphis, 5 p.m. tonight at The Pyramid.

Rad rappin': The Rockets public-address announcer flubbed Sonics forward Vladimir Radmanovic's last name, sounding like a rapper with his "Rad-Rad-Radmanovic" introduction. While the crowd laughed, the announcer said: "Hey, you try saying it three times."

Copyright © 2003 The Seattle Times Company