November 2007 Recap - Part 1
How The Sonics Fared in November:
The Seattle Supersonics were expected to be utter garbage this season, due to the fact that over half their team was traded for a younger core. They looked bound to be by far the worst team in the league. Despite that, and talks of moving the team, the Sonics managed to finish the month of November with a semi-respectable record of 6-11. While 6-11 isn't exactly something to be proud of by typical standards, it is when you consider everything thats happened. Coach Carlesimo has gone a whole month with the team without being choked by one of his players.
Seattle started by winning 2 of their first 3 games (both road wins), and then after a loss in Memphis beat Golden State for a 3-2 record and their first home win. Talks of Seattle being a surprise team this year died down after a 40 point drubbing versus Detroit, followed by a 22 point loss in Orlando to start a long road trip. The losing continued when the team lost to Miami, but finally ended with a close win in Atlanta.
The Sonics finished the road trip 1-5 however as they lost to Charlotte, Memphis and New Orleans. Their losing streak grew to 6 after a loss to New Jersey, putting the team at 4-9. Then, the Sonics finally caught a break, as Tim Duncan, injured in a prior game, was absent when the Spurs visited the Sonics, so Seattle managed to end the streak with a close win against the defending champs.
This was followed by an exciting game against the Lakers, which after a 17 point comeback, came down to the wire, until Kobe hit a buzzer-beater 3 to win the game. They then followed this up by letting Rashard Lewis's Magic walk all over them in Lewis's first return to Seattle. Fortunately, the Sonics managed to end the month on a high note by defeating the visiting Indiana Pacers 111-105, to finish their first month 6-11. Surprisingly, only Jeff Green and Kevin Durant were consistent that whole month, as most of the minor role players would have a few off nights, then have one really great game before slipping into mediocrity. Right now, only 3 Sonics (find out who in Part 2! A reward to whoever guesses all 3) are averaging double figures.
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Game Scores
- Suns 115 @ Sonics 101 | Record: 1-1
Phoenix: Marion: 34 Points, 10 Rebounds | Nash: 19 Points, 13 Assists
Seattle: Durant: 21 Points, 5 Assists | Ridnour: 14 Points, 8 Assists
- Sonics 88 @ Clippers 72 | Record: 2-1
Seattle: Durant: 21 Points, 6 Rebounds | West: 14 Points, 4 Assists, 3 Rebounds
Los Angeles: Mobley: 22 Points | Kaman: 14 Points, 12 Rebounds
- Sonics 103 @ Grizzlies 112 | Record: 2-2
Seattle: Durant: 30 Points, 5 Rebounds, 3 Assists | 23 Points, 5 Rebounds
Memphis: Gasol: 31 Points, 8 Rebounds | Miller: 28 Points
- Warriors 88 @ Sonics 98 | Record: 3-2
Golden State: Davis: 20 Points, 6 Assists | Jackson: 14 Points, 7 Assists
Seattle: Durant: 28 Points, 8 Rebounds | Green: 14 Points, 14 Rebounds
- Pistons 111 @ Sonics 71 | Record: 3-3
Detroit: Billups: 32 Points, 16 Assists | Wallace: 28 Points, 15 Rebounds
Seattle: Durant: 21 Points, 7 Rebounds | Szczerbiak: 15 Points
- Sonics 87 @ Magic 109 | Record: 3-4
Seattle: Green: 22 Points, 9 Rebounds | Szczerbiak: 21 Points
Orlando: Lewis: 36 Points | Howard: 35 Points, 10 Rebounds
- Sonics 85 @ Heat 93 | Record: 3-5
Seattle: Green: 21 Points, 11 Assists, 10 Rebounds | Durant: 35 Points, 9 Rebounds
Miami: Wade: 29 Points, 6 Assists | O'Neal: 18 Points, 12 Rebounds
- Sonics 111 @ Hawks 107 | Record: 4-5
Seattle: Wilcox: 25 points, 14 Rebounds, 4 Assists | West: 17 Points, 9 Assists, 3 Rebounds
Atlanta: Johnson: 40 Points, 11 Assists, 5 Rebounds | Marvin Williams: 21 Points, 8 Rebounds, 3 Assists
- Sonics 85 @ Bobcats 109 | Record: 4-6
Seattle: Durant: 24 Points, 4 Assists, 3 Rebounds | Ridnour: 10 Points, 6 Assists, 4 Rebounds
Charlotte: Richardson: 26 Points, 6 Assists | Okafor: 20 Points, 8 Rebounds
- Sonics 77 @ Grizzlies 81 | Record: 4-7
Seattle: Durant: 17 Points, 7 Rebounds, 5 Assists, 2 Blocks | Ridnour: 12 Points, 10 Assists
Memphis: Miller: 18 Points, 4 Rebounds, 2 Assists | Gay: 15 Points, 9 Rebounds
- Sonics 82 @ Hornets 96 | Record: 4-8
Seattle: Durant: 32 Points | Green: 16 Points, 6 Rebounds, 5 Assists
New Orleans: Stojakovic: 34 Points, 5 Rebounds | Paul: 22 Points, 6 Rebounds, 5 Assists, 3 Steals
- Nets 110 @ Sonics 86 | Record: 4-9
New Jersey: Kidd: 21 Points, 12 Assists, 5 Rebounds | Magloire: 21 Points, 12 Rebounds
Seattle: Durant: 22 Points, 5 Rebounds, 4 Assists, 2 Steals | Ridnour: 12 Points, 5 Assists, 4 Rebounds
- Spurs 91 @ Sonics 97 | Record: 5-9
San Antonio: Parker: 24 Points, 10 Assists | Finley: 17 Points, 4 Rebounds
Seattle: Durant: 24 Points, 5 Rebounds | Szczerbiak: 15 Points 5 Assists, 3 Rebounds
- Sonics 88 @ Lakers 89 | Record: 5-10
Seattle: Green: 20 Points, 5 Rebounds, 4 Assists | Green: 22 Points
Los Angeles: Bryant: 32 Points | Brown: 17 Points, 6 Rebounds
- Magic 106 @ Sonics 78 | Record: 5-11
Orlando: Howard: 29 Points, 12 Rebounds, 5 Blocks | Lewis: 21 Points, 4 Assists, 3 Rebounds, 3 Blocks
Seattle: Green: 19 Points, 7 Rebounds, 5 Assists | Durant: 16 Points, 5 Rebounds
- Pacers 105 @ Sonics 111 | Record: 6-11
Indiana: O'Neal: 26 Points, 8 Rebounds, 4 Blocks, 3 Assists | Murphy: 19 Points, 11 Rebounds
Seattle: Durant: 29 Points, 8 Rebounds, 3 Steals, 2 Blocks | Green: 25 Points, 12 Rebounds
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Top 3 Games
3. Seattle SuperSonics @ Atlanta Hawks
Sonics 25 36 20 30 111
Hawks 31 21 32 23 107
The Seattle Sonics were suffering their first (of what looks to be many) losing streak of the year, and hoped to end it against the weak Atlanta Hawks. The Hawks, however, proved to be a difficult opponent. Atlanta took a 6 point lead after the first quarter, but were completely defenseless in the second, as [b]Chris Wilcox and the Sonics took control of the 2nd quarter to have a nine point halftime lead. Atlanta fought back in the third, and were up by 2 going into the 4th. However, despite
Joe Johnson exploding for 17 of his eventual forty points in the fourth, the Sonics simply wanted to win more, and narrowly edged the Hawks 111-107.
Chris Wilcox has his best game of the season with 25 points, 14 Rebounds and 4 Assists. Also, Hawks forward
Marvin Williams did well in the loss with 21 Points and 8 Assists. Unfortunately, his and
Johnson's play were not enough for the win, as the rest of the team failed.
"Man, I need help out here. I have had *censored* to work with since day 1 here in Atlanta, and I'm sick of it," said
Johnson after the game. He was then fined $50,000 and suspended a game by the league for his remarks.
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2. Indiana Pacers @ Seattle SuperSonics
Pacers 22 30 24 29 105
Sonics 29 21 31 30 111
The Seattle Sonics managed to end the month with an exciting home win against the Pacers. Starting with a somewhat even first half, the game was close all the way through. It really got exciting in the third. The Pacers pulled out to a 10 point early in the period due to
Jermaine O'Neal's dominance over the much smaller
Green.
Kurt Thomas and
Wally Szczerbiak were swapped into the game for
Durant (who had 20 points and 7 Rebounds by then) and
Wilcox, and surprisingly, it helped. Led by
Wally Szczerbiak's hot shooting, the Sonics managed to go on an amazing 27-10 run to finish out the quarter, giving Seattle a 7 point lead. Perfectly fitting the game's turnaround was a block, followed by poster dunk by
Jeff Green on
Jermaine O'Neal.
The fourth quarter was very closely contested. Whenever Seattle would try to pull away for the win, the Pacers would hit a couple shots to make it close again. Fortunately, the Sonics managed to stop Indiana from coming within less than 5 points, and
Kevin Durant's free throws sealed the win.
Wally Szczerbiak was the X-factor, scoring 19 points in just 19 minutes of play. (The final nineteen) Despite a strong effort by Indiana's starting five, the Sonics won it, 111-105.
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1. Seattle Sonics @ Los Angeles Lakers
Sonics 20 19 24 25 88
Lakers 22 28 22 17 89
Coming off a lucky win against the shorthanded Spurs to end a losing streak, the Sonics had a new swagger of confidence coming into Staples Center. A fifteen point third quarter deficit should have spoiled it. But it didn't.
Led by the Rookie super-duo of
Jeff Green and
Kevin Durant The Sonics pulled together a strong run spanning the third and fourth quarters. Halfway through the fourth, the Sonics had managed to cut the lead to 3! A pair of threes by
Durant put them up by a point. After some intense basket-trading, the Sonics were up 2 with just 5 seconds remaining. The Sonics knew to double-team
Kobe in a clutch situation such as this. The ball came to
Bryant, and despite being tightly guarded by
Wally and
Green, he took a difficult 3 at the buzzer anyway...
And it went in. The crowd was ecstatic.
Kobe did his patented fist-pump and walked towards the locker room with a huge smile on his face.
PJ Carlesimo looked on the verge of tears.
"You know, losing a game like that, even when doing everything right... hurts. But, you gotta respect Kobe, man. That was sick," said Sonics star rookie
Kevin Durant, who had 22 points of his own. The Lakers finally had something to cheer about, as before that game they were 4-9.
