Sonics frolic in easy win

This was too easy and nothing like the struggles that have depicted much of the Sonics' forgettable season.

As if cleansing themselves of the bad mojo that had built up since the start of training camp, the Sonics lobbed successive alley-oop passes, skywalked and slammed Utah in a 113-81 victory Sunday night as if to chase away their inner demons and usher in a new beginning.

"Since the trading deadline, this team has come together just like that," coach Bob Hill said while snapping his fingers. "We've had five really good performances in terms of togetherness and effort, caring about one another and all of the stuff that's so darn important."

The post-trade-deadline Sonics are 2-3, which is misleading because they were severely short-handed in games at Miami and Orlando. With a full complement of players, Seattle is 2-1, including a blowout victory over New Orleans and last Friday's 98-96 loss to Detroit.

"You're a little concerned because we played Detroit — they're the best team in basketball — and we played them as well as we did that there might be a natural letdown," Hill said. "Not that Utah is a bad team. They're not. They're a good team, but there wasn't a letdown. We pretty much got ahold of the game at the beginning and never let go."

How good were the Sonics?

The metaphor hot knife through soft butter was appropriate as Utah provided little resistance and was overwhelmed in nearly every facet of the game.

The Sonics outhustled, outexecuted and Hill outwitted Utah coach Jerry Sloan in Seattle's most lopsided win of the season and its best performance since defeating Utah by 19 on Jan. 25.

"This is the same thing that happened in Salt Lake," Sloan said. "They ran us off the floor and they defended us. As I'm looking at the box score, I'm seeing they pretty much manhandled us."

Seattle's starters scarcely played in the fourth quarter and whooped and hollered on the sideline as reserves had their way with the Jazz.

A few more victories like Sunday's and perhaps the Sonics (23-37) will revive their playoff hopes. They're eight games behind the Lakers for the eighth playoff spot with 22 games remaining.

"That was fun," said newcomer Earl Watson, who finished with 10 points, seven assists, five rebounds and played his best game in his third outing with the Sonics. "We're just running."

Utah, which averages 90.5 points and is ranked 28th in the NBA in scoring, couldn't produce enough points to keep pace with the Sonics. Seattle is averaging 101.6 points, second in the league.

The two disparities were apparent from the start as Seattle seized a 21-11 lead with 5:01 remaining in the first period.

Things only got worse for Utah when Andrei Kirilenko collected his fourth foul with 9 ½ minutes left in the third quarter and went to the bench. By the end of the quarter, the Sonics had a 91-68 lead.

As for the Sonics' star-studded triplets, Rashard Lewis retired after three quarters with 22 points on 8-for-15 shooting, Ray Allen had 20 points and eight assists, and Luke Ridnour had 12 points and nine assists.

When Allen and Ridnour went to the bench early in the fourth, the competitive portion of the game concluded and the Sonics' reserves began working on their highlight clips.

Two of the newest Sonics connected as Watson completed an alley-oop pass to Chris Wilcox (10 points), who stuffed a high-flying dunk in traffic. The duo ran downcourt and exchanged a chest bump as the crowd of 15,493 at KeyArena roared its approval.

"We're just finding out how good we can be," Wilcox said. "Nobody really knows yet."

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