Allen wrenches shoulder; Seattle star's status iffy
Allen wrenches shoulder; Seattle star's status iffy
Saturday, February 7, 2004
By DANNY O'NEIL
SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER REPORTER
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/basketball/159788_sonx07.html
PHOENIX -- Ray Allen was on his back when the Phoenix Suns cut the Sonics'
lead to five points, flattened by a screen from Jake Voskuhl that was so
solid Allen heard his left shoulder crunch.
（保重... Q_Q）
Allen was in the locker room when Phoenix tied the score 105-105 with 18.8
seconds left.
He didn't hear anything when Rashard Lewis made a layin with two seconds
left. That's because America West Arena went silent after Lewis made the
layup on a perfect pass from rookie Luke Ridnour, giving the Sonics a 107-105
victory.
Though the Sonics won, the biggest questions afterward were about two items
the Sonics lost:
Their lead, which was as large as 15 in the final quarter.
Their leading scorer, who folded up after he was floored by a screen with
just over than two minutes left. Allen was in a sling after the game.
"It just crunched all the way across my clavicle," Allen said. "I heard it
crunch. I've never had a dislocated shoulder, but I was sure it was dislocated
based on the sound I heard."
X-rays proved that first fear wrong. They showed no injury, and Allen was
diagnosed with a sprained shoulder.
He had difficulty putting on his clothes, though, and is out for the game in
Portland tomorrow.
"It was a scary feeling," Lewis said of watching Allen's injury. "I don't
think we can afford injuries on this team right now, especially with Ray
Allen, our only All-Star on this team."
The only play Allen saw in the final two minutes was when Shawn Marion missed
a 3-pointer that would have won it for Phoenix. Seattle escaped with a
two-point victory in a game that didn't look like it would be that close.
In addition to the 15-point lead, the Sonics led by 11 with 3:30 left.
Then Marion scored six consecutive points, and the lead was down to seven
with 2:46 to play. After a Seattle turnover, Phoenix had the ball and Allen
was defending Joe Johnson. He was knocked down by a screen from Voskuhl that
he never saw coming.
"I'm not even disturbed by his screen as much as I am by my teammates not
talking to me and telling me the screen is coming," Allen said. "Any time the
screen is coming high like that, you've got to say something. But I was
totally blindsided."
Seattle's lead was five points and Allen was floored. His right hand went to
his left shoulder, then it covered his face. He was helped off the floor, his
shoulder immobilized. He had scored 18 points.
The last time Seattle played in Phoenix, Voskuhl set a screen that knocked
Lewis to the floor. Lewis later missed two free throws that would have cinched
the game.
This time Lewis won it in Allen's absence, scoring Seattle's final four
points, finishing with 23.
He drove past Marion for a sweeping right-handed layin with 21.5 seconds left
to give Seattle a three-point lead. Johnson made a 3-pointer on Phoenix's next
possession to tie it, and then Lewis scored the game-winning basket.
Vladimir Radmanovic added 23 points for the Sonics, who had lost five of their
past six games.
Before the game, coach Nate McMillan talked about his team's need to make its
own breaks. Seattle got one off of a broken play against the Suns (18-34).
The Sonics planned to isolate Lewis in the post against Marion. Marion fronted
Lewis, denying him the ball for about eight seconds. With six seconds left,
Ridnour improvised, Lewis' screen on Leandro Barbosa freeing Ridnour to
penetrate. Marion moved to stop Ridnour, and Ridnour passed to Lewis for an
open layin.
"Luke just made a great penetrating move," Lewis said. "And it left me a lane
wide open to the basket."
Barbosa scored 21 points, 18 in the first half when he shot 8-for-8.
Ridnour played all 12 minutes of the fourth quarter, scored 11 points and had
three assists. That last assist was his most important.
"Sometimes what you want to do on the floor doesn't happen that way," Sonics
guard Antonio Daniels said. "And he did a great job of improvising, taking
what the defense gave him."
The play saved what would have been one of Seattle's most disappointing
defeats of the season. Not just because Phoenix has the worst record in the
Western Conference, but because the Sonics led by double digits most of the
fourth quarter.
Considering Seattle had lost five of its past six games, any victory was
progress.
"You have to finish the game off," McMillan said. "And we had some breakdowns
to allow them back in the game to tie, but then we finished the game off. You
don't want that to happen, but we came up with the stop when we needed to, and
we came up with the score when we needed to."
--
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