Sonics
Power of Potapenko keys Sonics' victory

By Percy Allen
Seattle Times staff reporter

	ELAINE THOMPSON / AP The Clippers' Elton Brand (42) is defended by Sonics guard Brent Barry (31) as Seattle's Vladimir Radmanovic watches during the first half last night. Brand had 26 points and 16 rebounds.
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From his seat at the end of the bench, Vitaly Potapenko could see what was going wrong for the Sonics.

The Los Angeles Clippers had just attempted five shots, missed all of them, and yet grabbed the offensive rebound each time during a particularly painful sequence early in the third quarter.

After each failed rebound attempt, Potapenko squirmed in his seat. He knew what the Sonics were missing as did coach Nate McMillan, who inserted his resident strongman into the game shortly after the shoddy defensive display.

"Just be physical, put a body on somebody, be aggressive, go for the rebound, do whatever you have to do, that's what I was thinking," Potapenko said. "It was just so much going on."

Rarely does a team's 10th man win a game, especially when Ray Allen scores 41, but Potapenko's defensive work on Elton Brand allowed the Sonics to escape KeyArena last night with a 102-97 victory in front of 15,741 fans.

"The guys may think I won this game or whatever, but I wouldn't say that," Potapenko said. "I brought a piece to the game that I was supposed to bring. I brought my piece to the table. ... Hopefully, there will be more to come."

Against Houston's Yao Ming, the Sonics called upon Potapenko.

When Shaquille O'Neal of the Los Angeles Lakers tormented Seattle around the rim, Potapenko was again asked to join the fracas.

He is the Sonics' safety net when centers Jerome James and Calvin Booth are ineffective, as they were against Brand last night. Even Reggie Evans failed to contain the Clippers forward, who had 26 points — 20 in the first half — and a game-high 16 rebounds.

"We gave a lot of different looks tonight," said James, who played 15 minutes and had as many fouls (four) as points. "It started out with me on Elton. I got into foul trouble. Switched Calvin up on him, he got in foul trouble. By the time Vitaly got in there, Elton had seen so many different looks, it was bound for one of us to have a good night on him."

Potapenko did his best work in the fourth quarter when he shut down Brand, holding him to two points and without a field-goal attempt.

Without their most consistent scorer producing, the Clippers turned to Corey Maggette, who finished with 28 points and 10 rebounds. Quentin Richardson added 22 points.

Still, they were not enough to counter Allen, who rebounded from an unimpressive 13-point outing in his previous game.

Last night, the Sonics guard made 14 of 23 shots, six of them from behind the three-point line. His 41 points were one shy of his season high and six off his career best.

Afterward, Rashard Lewis, who scored 50 points against Los Angeles in their previous meeting, shared a laugh with Allen.

"I gave them 50 big ones and now you drop 40 on them," he said. "Somebody is always lighting them up."

Allen started early, scoring seven in the first quarter. He had 12 in the second, seven in the third and 15 in the fourth.

With Allen scoring at will, the Sonics needed just 15 points from Lewis. Antonio Daniels added 14 points and Brent Barry finished with 10 points and seven assists as the Sonics (22-20) claimed their second straight victory and third in the past four games.

"You knew that Ray would break out of whatever it was that he was in," Lewis said. "He pretty much carried us the whole night. When we needed a basket, he delivered."

The Sonics trailed by eight in the first quarter (31-23) and nine in the second (39-30).

When it seemed as if the Clippers would win a game of attrition and wear down the Sonics with their superior rebounding — Los Angeles collected 48, and Seattle had 34 — Allen's long-distance shooting kept the Sonics close.

He began a spurt of three three-pointers midway through the third. Barry and Lewis made the next two, with Lewis' shot putting the Sonics up 64-60.

"That was one of the situations where we got a rebound and we ran it down the floor," Allen said. "We got it to our shooters. Those threes, they are demoralizing."

The three-point barrage coincided with Potapenko's dirty work beneath the glass and culminated in an 11-0 Sonics run that gave them a 66-60 lead.

At that point, the Clippers, who fell to 18-23, never seriously threatened again.

"In the first half, Elton was able to do whatever he wanted, but Vitaly came in and shut a lot of that down," Lewis said. "He's the man tonight. Well, Ray, too. But it was both of them."

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

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