Sonics' offense sings vs. Jazz

SALT LAKE CITY — True to his word, coach Bob Hill kept his foot on the gas and the Sonics' high-octane offense motored past the slumping Utah Jazz, which had lost four of the past six games.

Seattle's 113-94 victory in front of 19,382 at the Delta Center on Wednesday gave the team its first back-to-back wins in more than a month. The last time the Sonics recorded consecutive victories was Dec. 16 and 19.

Seattle had been looking for signs of recovery and Wednesday's 19-point demolishing of Utah, its most lopsided victory of the season, coupled with Sunday's thrilling double-overtime win in Phoenix, are as good an omen as any.

"You have to give the players a lot of credit because it's definitely different than the way we were playing before," Hill said. "It's at the other end of the spectrum, and it was going to take a commitment on their part, a lot of concentration."

Starting tonight against Dallas, the Sonics (17-24) play four straight games at home. If they remain perfect during this homestand, then they're likely to close ground on Northwest Division leader Denver and could leapfrog Minnesota and Utah in the division standings.

"With our type of record, a [roll] is an eight- or nine-game winning streak for us," Rashard Lewis said. "Two games, I don't think is enough for us to be on a roll. I think we need eight or nine games in a row.

"But I will say, the rhythm is a little bit different. It looks different. You can feel the difference. Everybody is playing harder."

It's difficult to complain when you're stockpiling points in bunches and five players score double-digit points as they did against a Utah defense that entered the night allowing an average of 92.5 points.

From the start, Seattle established the pace of the game.

Ray Allen drained a short jumper on the opening possession and swiped a pass that led to a Lewis jumper. Seattle led 4-0 before Utah knew what hit it and soon extended its lead to 11-2 and 17-7 and 28-18 at the end of the first quarter.

"The way we started the game was atrocious," Utah coach Jerry Sloan. "It looked like we wanted to play outside all night, and that made it very difficult for us. They had seven [first half] steals to our zero."

The Jazz uncharacteristically struggled to find success with its precision half-court offense. Andrei Kirilenko had 10 rebounds and finished with a game-high 24 points, but he attempted 21 shots and was 1 for 4 on three-pointers.

"The biggest challenge tonight was to embrace the pace of the game and they did it again," Hill said. "I can't say enough about their defense. That's one of the few times in my career that any of my teams have been able to pretty much take Utah out of their offense and make them search for shots."

Utah forward Mehmet Okur (20 points and 13 rebounds) was the only Jazz player who had a semblance of a solid game, and reserve guards Milt Palacio and rookie Deron Williams each chipped in 11 points.

But Utah (21-22) simply couldn't keep pace with the speedy Sonics, who zipped around Jazz players like they were orange cones on a racetrack.

As he did on Sunday against Phoenix, Luke Ridnour led the charge and made his teammates run at his furious pace. He was too quick for Keith McLeod, Devin Brown and Williams, who tried in vain to slow him down.

"We just come in and be aggressive," said Ridnour, who finished with 17 points and a game-high seven assists. "We have confidence in the way we're playing now, just running fast and trying to get shots up. It was a big win for us to come in here and handle the game the way we did."

With Ridnour constantly poking and probing the soft Utah interior defense, the Jazz lost track of Allen early on and he burned them with three three-pointers in the first quarter. The All-Star guard scored 13 of his team-high 22 points in the first quarter, and because of Seattle's dominance, he watched the final six minutes on the bench.

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