Sonics Win First Away Game of Season, Snap Losing Streak
The Sonics managed to avoid a complete disaster on their first road trip by beating the Houston Rockets 103-94.
Otto Porter was the top scorer of the night with 28 points. Andrew Nicholson (16 points, 7 rebounds) and Arron Afflalo (15 points, 6 rebounds) provided great support for Porter, while Wilson Chandler had a double-double off the bench, with 12 points and 13 rebounds.
The Rockets had a fairly even distribution of scoring, with James Harden leading the way on offence (22 points, 10 assists). But the Rockets were unable to recover from a slow start, as they were outscored 32-16 in the first quarter.
Sonics Lose First Game at Home
The Toronto Raptors gave the Sonics their first home loss of the season, winning 110-103 in Seattle.
DeMar DeRozan (25 points), Jonas Valanciunas (23 points, 13 rebounds) and Kyle Lowry (22 points, 9 assists) combined to give the Sonics fits all night and as a result, the home team had an uphill battle all game.
Andrew Nicholson (26 points, 8 rebounds) and Otto Porter (22 points) managed to get their own on offence, but Patty Mills could manage to stay on the floor, as he encountered foul trouble for most of the game. With Patty’s troubles, Bryce Cotton got an extended run on the court and he managed to tally 13 points and 5 assists. Andrew Bogut (11 points, 14 rebounds, 3 blocks) was solid on both ends, but ultimately couldn’t stop the offensive onslaught.
Dion Steps Up, But Sonics Still Lose
Dion Waiters had one of the more incredible performances of the season in the Sonics’ 114-104 loss to the Pelicans.
In an incredible turn of events, Dion Waiters was put in the starting lineup after Arron Afflalo tore his MCL during practice. Waiters ended up scoring 35 points in his first start of the season… and I dare say it won’t be his last. The scoring outburst was probably the only thing that kept the Sonics in the game, as Patty Mills was the only other double-digit scorer for the Sonics with 11 points and 5 assists.
As expected, the Sonics encountered major resistance from Anthony Davis. The All-Star big had 26 points and 10 rebounds on the night. But the most astounding performance was from new recruit JaVale McGee. The Shaqtin a Fool legend complemented Anthony Davis perfectly and ended up with an incredible 21 points and 20 rebounds. With Davis and McGee dominating the paint, Jrue Holiday (18 points, 5 assists), Buddy Hield (14 points, 6 rebounds, 6 assists) and Jarrett Jack (10 points, 4 assists) were all able to be effective from the perimeter.
Sonics Come Back in Style Against Nuggets
After a couple of tough results, the Sonics came roaring back with a 125-98 win against the Nuggets.
If you thought the Dion Waiters performance against the Pelicans was a fluke, he obviously didn’t think so. The new Sonics sensation poured in a career-high 40 points off 15-26 from the field. Andrew Nicholson (22 points, 7 rebounds) and Otto Porter (20 points) complemented Dion’s point explosion well, while Nick Young (15 points) and Brandon Rush (10 points) were instrumental off the bench.
For the Nuggets, Nikola Jokic (16 points, 10 rebounds), Kenneth Faried (11 points, 10 rebounds) and Emmanuel Mudiay (10 points, 10 assists) performed well, but were on the wrong end of one of the form players in the league.
Sonics Reserves Allowed to Flex in Blowout Win
The game against the Baltimore Barons was never in doubt, as the Sonics won comprehensively by 125-90.
After overwhelming the Barons in the first two quarters, Ime Udoka gave the reserves an extended run, which gave Jarnell Stokes time to prove his worth in the league. The former D-League MVP had 24 points and 11 rebounds, while shooting a perfect 10-10 from the field and 4-4 from the line. Tony Snell also got into the act, scoring 16 points from his 17 minutes of play.
With the extended minutes the bench players received, the numbers of Otto Porter (15 points), Dion Waiters (13 points) and Andrew Nicholson (10 points) took a bit of a hit, but in the grand scheme of things, the rest should only prove beneficial.
On what was a disastrous for the Barons, Joe Johnson (20 points), Gordon Hayward (15 points, 6 rebounds) and Marreese Speights (11 points) were the only players that made any type of impact for the away team.
Last 5 Games
@HOU: 103-94 W
TOR: 111-103 L
@NOP: 114-104 L
DEN: 125-98 W
BAL: 125-90 W
Overall: 5-5
Injury List
Arron Afflalo – Torn Right MCL – 8-10 Weeks (Out)
Boban Marjanovic – Spinal Injury – 6-8 Weeks (Out)