Notes: Ridnour's offense takes a hit

Luke Ridnour's scoreless first half on Monday failed to dissuade any fears that he might fall into a funk after committing a pair of costly errors in the final minute of Friday's 101-98 loss to Dallas.

Coach Bob Weiss spoke to his point guard before the Sonics took the floor against Boston and gave him a few words of encouragement.

"I talked to him before the game and we talked about [how he] has to put that behind him," Weiss said. "You learn from it and not let it drag on you."

Privately, however, he worried if Ridnour would experience a lingering hangover.

The Sonics point guard played just 12 minutes, 30 seconds before intermission. He missed two shots and tallied three assists and three fouls.

When the second half began, Ridnour complained of nausea and was on the bench while Ronald Murray directed the Sonics. Ridnour did not return.

Weiss has considered re-inserting Mateen Cleaves in the rotation, but has relied heavily on Murray, who had 22 of his season-high 29 points in the second half. Murray dislocated a joint on the middle and ring finger of his shooting hand late in the game. X-rays were negative but he will be evaluated today.

After Ray Allen arrived in Seattle in February 2003, the Sonics used him at point guard in the final minutes of some games. He also played the position in the fourth quarter during the 2003-04 season, but Weiss believes opponents' defensive adjustments forced Seattle to change its tactics.

"A lot of teams won't let Ray play off the pick-and-roll; they totally double him immediately and take the ball out of his hands," Weiss said. "If you have the players to counter that or if he can make the pass than it can be effective. But we're not getting the same thing off of Ray's pick-and-roll that we did a year, and year and a half ago.

"We still run pick-and-rolls, but they we have to be a little bit more sophisticated when we do it."

Rotation manipulation

With a plethora of power forwards on the roster, Weiss was looking for ways to get Vladimir Radmanovic on the floor. On Monday, Weiss departed from the normal routine and used the 6-10 three-point specialist as a substitute for Allen. The move forced Radmanovic to play extensive minutes at shooting guard, where he defended Boston's Ricky Davis.

With the exception of the Dec. 16 game in Portland, when he did not get off the bench, Radmanovic has played at least 21 minutes in four of the five past games.

In the first quarter, he joined Murray in the backcourt with Rashard Lewis and Reggie Evans at forward and Nick Collison at center. In the second period, Weiss used a lineup that included Ridnour and Radmanovic at guard and Lewis, Collison and Danny Fortson in the frontcourt.

Note

• Before Monday's game, Weiss lamented the Sonics' 3-5 record at KeyArena this month.

Seattle now begins a stretch with 11 of its next 15 games on the road.