Sonics eventually get last laugh

The question is whether the Sonics should leave Thursday's 101-95 win over the Cleveland Cavaliers with positive vibes or a sense of dissatisfaction.

Without LeBron James, the Cavaliers were toothless. They were a team filled with role players playing out of their roles. Rebounders trying to be scorers. Point guards trying to be shooters. Little-used reserves trying to be major contributors.

Yet, the hard-working Cavaliers whittled a 23-point lead down to three with less than three minutes left, forcing the Sonics to scramble for offense and to rely on their 19-year-old superstar.

With James watching from the bench with a sprained right ankle, Kevin Durant scored six of Seattle's final eight points as the Sonics clung to a tighter-than-should-have-been win in front of 13,109 at KeyArena.

Durant scored 24 points in just 30 minutes while Jeff Green was a perfect 8-for-8 from the field and added 17 points as Seattle won consecutive games for the first time since Dec. 5 and Dec. 7.

"The next time we have a 20-point lead, we'll close out better," Sonics coach P.J. Carlesimo said. "We had some really, really good minutes and some poor minutes. It's relaxing a little bit having a big lead; it's not staying aggressive. It's settling for some bad shots and we have some bad turnovers."

The victory should have been much easier,but the Sonics missed 11 of 17 shots in the fourth quarter and committed six turnovers.

The Sonics appeared to have sealed the game with a 6-0 run when Kurt Thomas' driving layup with 1:35 left provided a 97-88 cushion. Durant then added a jumper with a nine-point lead with 56.1 left.

But Daniel Gibson countered with a 3-pointer and, after a steal, Larry Hughes cut the deficit to four with a layup with 37.1 left.

Cleveland pushed the ball again after a Luke Ridnour miss, but Thomas took the charge in a close call against Gibson, who converted the runner off the glass with 8.1 seconds left.

Without James, the Cavaliers methodically cut into a 23-point deficit, thanks to hot shooting and lackadaisical execution from the Sonics, who weren't used to holding such large leads.

"I think we made the game harder than it had to be, but we made plays down the stretch," said Durant, who is 19-for-35 from the field in the past two games. "But teams are going to make runs. We did a good job of making plays."

Johan Petro's jumper gave Seattle what appeared to be a comfortable 89-72 lead with 9:49 left, but the Cavaliers countered with a 16-2 run, nine of those scored by 7-foot-3 center Zydrunas Ilgauskas, who began using his size and girth to get to the free-throw line.

But the Cavaliers were coming off an intense 94-93 win over Portland on Wednesday and shot just 35 percent in the fourth quarter. In addition to James, Cleveland was missing starting shooting guard Sasha Pavlovic (sprained left foot) and high-energy forward Anderson Varejao (sprained left ankle).

"It doesn't matter who is playing, the one thing you need to do is compete," said Cleveland coach Mike Brown, whose club lost for the first time in six road games. "I know we didn't do that. Part of it is evident in the layups they got in transition. You can't go on the road and get down 20 and expect a comeback in somebody's building."

Brown was relegated to mixing and matching lineups, looking for an effective combination.

What he got was his worst nightmare: a crew of complements unsure what to do with their leader sidelined.

Hughes, Cleveland's second-most talented player, tallied 28 points but took 21 shots to get there.

A day after being named to the Rookie Challenge, Green hit all eight of his shots and added three rebounds and three assists.

Green had struggled as a starter in the past month but is playing with more confidence after working arduously on his mid-range jumper.

"It was just my night, I guess," he said. "Even if I start slow, that's not going to stop me from shooting.

"I just kept shooting and they went in. I played the same way as usual, I didn't force anything."

James watched the game from the bench wearing a brown suede blazer, black sneakers and walking with a slight limp. The Cavaliers don't play until Saturday against the Los Angeles Clippers and James is questionable for that game.

Wilcox scored the Sonics' first 10 points -- all on layups or dunks -- and added seven rebounds as Seattle led by as many as 16 points (26-10). It was so bad for Cleveland that veteran Donyell Marshall, who had not played since Nov. 2 with wrist and finger injuries, checked into the game without his jersey.

Marshall pulled the jersey off along with his warm-up top and stood there in embarrassment as his teammates collapsed in laughter on the bench. After the ruckus, the Cavaliers were assessed a delay of game, which summed up their night.

GAME IN REVIEW

PLAYER OF THE GAME: Chris Wilcox is getting back to expected form, as he scored 18 points on 7-for-13 shooting with 13 rebounds as the Sonics held on for a 101-95 win over the LeBron James-less Cleveland Cavaliers.

PLAY OF THE GAME: With the Sonics needing a bucket to avoid a total collapse, Kurt Thomas used his 35-year-old legs to drive to the basket for an uncontested layup to give the Sonics a 97-88 lead with 1:35 left. It capped a 6-0 run.

THOMAS TARGETED: The one player the Sonics are anticipating they will be asked about in coming weeks is center Thomas, who has an expiring $8 million contract and has shown he can still play at a high level. Thomas entered Thursday averaging 7.3 points and 9.3 rebounds in 25.6 minutes per game.

The Sonics may consider re-signing Thomas for next season because he has been such a positive influence on the younger players and he is the team's most legitimate center in years.

NO ALL-STAR FOR KD: Kevin Durant, who scored 24 points Thursday, will pass on enjoying the entire All-Star weekend in New Orleans with the rest of the NBA elite. Durant will fly from New Orleans to Austin, Texas, on Feb. 16 and watch his Longhorns face Baylor that afternoon. Durant plays in the Rookie Challenge on Feb. 15 and had the choice of spending the weekend in New Orleans.

"It was a no-brainer, really," he said. "I want to see my teammates, my brothers, all my family down in Texas. I have been seeing All-Stars almost every night. It would be different if I were an All-Star. But this is an opportunity for me to see my guys play."

Jeff Green (17 points) also is leaving New Orleans on Feb. 16, headed back for a two-day respite in Washington D.C.

LAYUPS: Wally Szczerbiak was on the active list despite missing the game with a sprained right ankle. ... Damien Wilkins, still slowed by the flu, scored five points in 13 minutes.

SONICS 101, CAVALIERS 95

		FG	FT	Reb
Cleveland	Min	M-A	M-A	O-T	A	PF	Pts
DBrown	9	0-3	0-0	0-0	0	0	0
Gooden	19	3-8	4-4	2-3	1	3	10
Ilgauskas	36	3-13	11-11	3-9	5	2	17
Newble	19	2-4	0-0	2-3	0	2	4
Hughes	37	10-21	4-4	2-6	5	1	28
Gibson	33	5-11	0-0	0-0	6	4	13
DaJones	28	5-12	0-0	0-3	1	2	15
DwJones	25	1-1	1-2	5-7	0	2	3
Snow	16	1-1	0-2	0-1	0	1	2
Marshall	9	0-2	2-2	0-1	0	1	2
SBrown	7	0-2	1-2	0-0	0	2	1
Totals	240	30-78	23-27	14-33	18	20	95

Percentages: FG .385, FT .852. 3-Point goals: 12-27, .444 (Da.Jones 5-11, Hughes 4-8, Gibson 3-7, Marshall 0-1). Team rebounds: 8. Blocked shots: 6 (Ilgauskas 3, Dw.Jones 3). Turnovers: 13 (Gibson 4, Gooden 3, Hughes 3, S.Brown, Da.Jones, Dw.Jones). Steals: 9 (Hughes 3, S.Brown, Gooden, Da.Jones, Dw.Jones, Newble, Snow). Tech. fouls: Defensive three second, 1:45 first.

		FG	FT	Reb
Seattle	Min	M-A	M-A	O-T	A	PF	Pts
Green	35	8-8	0-0	1-3	3	1	17
Wilcox	31	7-13	4-4	5-13	1	4	18
Thomas	32	8-10	0-0	0-6	3	3	16
Durant	30	10-16	4-5	1-3	4	2	24
Watson	28	2-6	0-0	0-3	12	1	5
Collison	16	3-6	0-0	0-4	0	4	6
Ridnour	21	0-2	2-2	0-0	4	2	2
Petro	15	3-9	0-3	1-3	0	3	6
Wilkins	13	2-5	0-0	0-0	3	0	5
West	18	1-3	0-0	0-5	4	1	2
Totals	240	44-78	10-14	8-40	34	21	101

Percentages: FG .564, FT .714. 3-Point goals: 3-7, .429 (Green 1-1, Wilkins 1-2, Watson 1-3, West 0-1). Team rebounds: 9. Blocked shots: 4 (Durant 2, Green, Petro). Turnovers: 17 (Durant 5, Ridnour 3, Watson 3, Green 2, Wilcox 2, Collison, Thomas). Steals: 6 (Thomas 3, Durant 2, West). Technical fouls: None.

Cleveland	24	18	26	27--95
Seattle	40	22	23	16--101

A--13,109. T--2:17. Officials--Jason Phillips, Sean Corbin, Tom Washington.