Notebook: Allen gives Ridnour a pep talk

They stood on the Sonics' practice court long after their teammates left on Thursday, the veteran and the youngster deep in conversation. Ray Allen and Luke Ridnour huddled together, charting the rest of their course this season.

Allen told Ridnour to get back to playing the way he played earlier, when the Sonics were hot and united and free from the problems that hang over them this week.

"I want him to get back to where he was in the beginning of the season," Allen said, "when you could see the energy running through his veins. That swagger he had. I told him it doesn't matter what goes on right now in the season. You're the point guard of this team. You start the team. You come out there, and you bring it. We have to keep this team rolling."

Ridnour didn't say or move much, other than to nod his head occasionally. This has been a tough stretch for the second-year point guard out of Oregon. He didn't reached his 9.9 scoring average or play more than 26 minutes in the three games preceding last night's. He had seven points in 30 minutes yesterday.

"I don't know if I can say he's hit the wall," Allen said. "We've changed a lot of what we've done since the beginning of the season. We're playing more halfcourt basketball.

"When we're successful, Luke had the ball in his hands, and we were playing fast-break basketball. Luke was making some of the best plays I've seen made in the NBA. I told him we need to get back to that."

Note

• Last night marked a bad time to be a big man wearing a Sonics uniform. Not only did the Sonics place F Vladimir Radmanovic on the injured list, they were also without C Jerome James (bruised hip) and F Danny Fortson (sprained left ankle). Fortson had X-rays taken of his ankle Thursday after practice, and they came back negative. 

Yesterday

Player of the game Ray Allen wasn't unhappy with his involvement in the offense yesterday after voicing some displeasure with his playing time on Wednesday night. He led all scorers last night with 38 points on 12-of-21 shooting.

Play of the game: Midway through the third quarter, Magic center Kelvin Cato took an alley-oop pass from guard Steve Francis and flushed home a two-handed dunk that shook the backboard. It gave the Magic a 58-52 lead and highlighted a 12-4 run.

Turning point: The Sonics drew the ire of Francis in the fourth quarter, and it actually worked for them. Francis spent his time untangling from a courtside photographer, complaining to the referees as he backpedaled downcourt and then missing shots as the Sonics slowly edged ahead.