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Darkening hopes Suns fall behind Rockets with damaging loss to SeattlePosted: Monday March 24, 2003 11:46 PMUpdated: Tuesday March 25, 2003 1:33 AM
PHOENIX (AP) -- Imagine what Rashard Lewis might have done if he was seeing clearly. Lewis was poked in the eye early in the game, and despite blurry vision scored 25 of his 29 points in the second half as the Seattle SuperSonics beat Phoenix 82-73 Monday night. The team trainer put a contact in to protect Lewis' scratched eye, but things didn't begin to clear up until the fourth quarter. Still, Lewis scored 16 of his team's first 18 points in the third quarter as the Sonics took the lead for good. "We executed to a 'T,' and we got some easy baskets," Lewis said. "A lot of teams are struggling to get into the playoffs. We're one of them." The ugly home loss was a blow to the Suns' efforts to earn the final playoff berth in the West.
The Sonics shot just 37 percent, but Lewis was 12-for-16, 10-for-13 in the second half. Many of his baskets were uncontested layups. Johnson singled out Shawn Marion's poor defense. "Shawn couldn't stop him," Johnson said. "I tried to get someone else on him, but Shawn said he wanted him, and still couldn't stop him." Marion accepted the blame. "I guess I wasn't doing what I'm supposed to do," he said. "I put it on my shoulders." Ray Allen added 22 points for the Sonics, who have won three of four. Reggie Evans grabbed 13 rebounds as Seattle dominated the boards 50-36, 15-6 on the offensive end. "We were rebounding the ball, and only giving them one shot," Seattle coach Nate McMillan said. "I thought our defense on their perimeter guys was good. We were aggressive going to the basket and shot a lot of free throws." Stephon Marbury had 22 points and 10 assists as the Suns matched their season-low in scoring. They also scored 73 in their season-opener at Seattle. Marion added 15 points on 5-for-16 shooting. "We didn't play with the same energy that we played with against Dallas, nor against Washington," Marbury said, referring to his team's previous two games. The loss by Phoenix clinched a playoff spot for the San Antonio Spurs. The victory left Seattle just 2 1/2 games behind the Suns with 11 to play. Phoenix entered the game tied with Houston for the eighth and final playoff spot in the West. The Sonics led 53-40 with 6:45 left in the quarter and led 61-53 entering the fourth quarter. Marion sank two 3-pointers as the Suns outscored the Sonics 10-3 to start the fourth quarter to cut Seattle's lead to 64-63 on Marbury's inside basket with 8:16 to play. But Seattle scored the next seven points, two baskets by Lewis and a 3-pointer by Allen, to go up 71-63 with 5:13 to play. Marion's 3-pointer with 3:58 to play cut the lead to 75-71, but Kevin Ollie scored, then Brent Barry sank a 3-pointer and the Sonics were safely up 80-71 with two minutes to play. "We played the way a team is supposed to play," Allen said. The Sonics shot 26 percent in the first half and still trailed only 37-35 at the break, thanks to a 10-4 advantage in offensive rebounds and eight Suns' turnovers. Seattle finished at 37 percent shooting for the game. Notes: Charles Barkley, who has reconciled his long dispute with Suns owner Jerry Colangelo, received a huge cheer when he was introduced with other former Phoenix players before the game as part of the team's "retro night." It was his first public appearance at a Suns home game since his retirement from the NBA. ... The first game in Suns' history was against Seattle on Oct. 28, 1968. ... Seattle is 11-6 since trading Gary Payton to Milwaukee. ... Other than Lewis, the rest of the Sonics made 16 of 60 shots. ... Houston owns the tiebreaker with Phoenix. ... Amare Stoudemire, bothered by a sore ankle, played just 21 minutes for the Suns.
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