Something clicks for Sonics in win over Cavs

From his sick bed, Sonics coach Bob Hill realized one way to make his team better when it counted most.

His first chance to use it in a game happened Tuesday and it worked to perfection as Seattle bounced Cleveland 101-96 by controlling the action down the stretch.

Induced by a soaring fever that forced him to miss the game last Wednesday and Dwyane Wade's fourth-quarter theatrics, Hill came to an epiphany about his team that historically has been a defensively challenged club.

Admittedly, the coach was a bit delusional from flu-like symptoms, but Wade's 14-point output in the final quarter last week in the Heat's 107-103 victory prompted Hill to alter how Seattle defends superstars in the final minutes.

"I was sick laying in bed, watching the last four minutes of the Miami game," he said. "We couldn't stop [Wade] and I said we got to put a zone in. We just have to. So the next day we put it in."

The Sonics installed a 3-2 zone during practice, but the true test came Tuesday when they virtually shut down LeBron James in the fourth quarter in front of 15,619 spectators at KeyArena.

The Cavaliers star finished with a game-high 30 points on 8-for-21 shooting. More importantly, though, in the fourth quarter in which the score was tied six times and no team led by more than six points, James attempted just four field goals and missed every one.

James found little room for his signature dribble drives with Ray Allen, Luke Ridnour and Mickael Gelabale floating around the perimeter, and forwards Chris Wilcox and Nick Collison clogging the inside.

"Their zone, the way they played it ... I think affected us at times," James said. "Our offense is kind of geared to man-to-man ... You've got to try to attack it sometimes, but they had three guards up and sometimes one big up, so it was kind of tough to penetrate.

"But we got great looks."

Instead of driving to the basket, James dished to open shooters Damon Jones, Larry Hughes and Donyell Marshall, but each missed three-pointers in the final 1:08.

While the Cavaliers clanked open three-pointers, Chris Wilcox connected on a momentum-turning hook shot over 7-foot-3 Zydrunas Ilgauskas that put Seattle ahead 97-93 with 46.5 seconds left.

It was the Sonics' last field goal, but they secured the victory from the free-throw line, converting 4 of 6 attempts. They were 15 of 18 in the fourth quarter from the line and 28 of 32 in the game.

"We did the little things right tonight," said Allen, who followed his career-high 54-point night with 22 on 6-for-21 shooting.

Even though he struggled with his accuracy, Allen turned into a playmaker and tallied a season-high 11 assists.

"My role has always been to score, but there's nothing that says you can't do everything out there on the floor," Allen said. "I don't want to be one of those players that's one-dimensional, that can only do one thing well, play on one side of the floor.

"I take joy in just winning the game. I take joy in the fact that Luke had 11 points and Earl [Watson] had 12 [points] and seven [assists]. Weezy [Wilcox] and Nick both had double-doubles. ... That excites me. Fifty points the last game, I had to. It seemed like we needed every bit of that 50."

Against Cleveland, the Sonics spread the wealth as five players scored in double figures, including Wilcox (16) and Collison (14), who each had 12 rebounds.

Still no matter how efficient the Sonics played offensively, they improved to 15-25 because they held James to 30 points, eight assists and seven rebounds while shutting down everyone else other than Ilgauskas, who finished with 24 points and 11 rebounds.

"Great players are going to score their points, you know that, but you try to limit them in key situations," Allen said. "LeBron got his numbers, but when it mattered, we made other people take the big shots and you'll live with that every time."

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