LOS ANGELES, 18 January 2005 — Cleveland Cavaliers’ phenom LeBron James received the raves, but the Seattle SuperSonics walked off with the victory.
Ray Allen scored 27 points, and Vladimir Radmanovic came off the bench to hit five 3-pointers en route to 23 points to go along with 11 rebounds as the SuperSonics clipped the Cavaliers 105-97 on Sunday night despite a 35-point effort by James.
“Vladimir gave them a great contribution off the bench,” said James after Cleveland slipped to 22-15 on the season. “They outrebounded us by 20 and that was pretty much the game.”
Luke Ridenour netted a career-high 18 points, while Antonio Daniels chipped in with 15 and eight assists for Seattle, (23-9), which dominated the boards, 50-31, and hit 10-of-22 3-pointers to overcome 23 turnovers.
“We’re happy with the win but we didn’t play well,” said Sonics coach Nate McMillan following his club’s fourth win in the last five games.
“We didn’t do a good job of taking care of the ball. To have 23 turnovers and still be in the game, you’re lucky to win. I don’t even know how we were close.”
Daniels, filling in for injured Rashard Lewis, had the unenviable task of guarding James. Daniels came away impressed after the 20-year second year sensation had his eighth game of the season with 30 or more points, to go along 11 assists.
“You can’t stop somebody like that, it’s real hard to do,” he said. “He’s very mature for his age. He’s a heck of a talent. He’s going to be one of the best players to ever play the game. That’s safe to say.”
McMillan agreed: “I really do believe he will be a great player one day. He does so many things. He’s young, he has a lot of confidence in himself. He’s just a great player. If he stays healthy, his numbers will be such as we’ve seen tonight throughout his career.”
Led by James and Drew Gooden (27 points and 10 rebounds) the Cavs extended a two-point halftime edge to 74-65 late in the third frame. The Sonics, however, went on a 21-5 surge bridging the third and fourth quarters to go ahead for good. Daniels and Radmanovic each drilled a pair of 3-pointers, and Danny Forston added all seven of his points, including a driving layup, to put the hosts ahead 86-79 with eight minutes to play. Cleveland pulled within 94-91 on a 3-pointer by James with 1:28 left but Allen answered with one of his from behind the arc with 1:12 left. Ridnour made all six free throws, and Daniels added two more to seal the victory.
Raptors 102 Hornets 99: Mo Peterson had 25 points and 10 rebounds, and the Raptors capitalized on the loss of All-Star guard Baron Davis to rally past the hapless Hornets.
Chris Bosh had 24 points and 10 rebounds, while Jalen Rose added 11 of his 19 in the final quarter as Toronto, (15-23), earned its eighth home win in the last nine games.
“When a player like Baron Davis has a double-double in the first half, he allowed the game to be so much easier for Lee Nailon, Chris Anderson and P.J. Brown to get those open shots,” Rose said. “I think once he came out of the game that really gave us an advantage.”
Nailon scored a career-high 32 points while Anderson tied a career-best with 17 points for league-worst New Orleans,(5-31), which was seeking its fourth win in the last five games.
“When Baron went down our momentum went down,” Nailon said. “He’s an All-Star and when he plays great everybody follows. He was going good and got kicked in his Achilles and had to leave the game, after that we got discombobulated.”
Davis, who finished with 15 points and 11 assists, suffered a right Achilles’ injury late in the third quarter when he was accidentally kicked during a scrum with the Hornets ahead, 70-61. With Davis in the locker room, the Hornets built a 93-83 advantage with just over five minutes left in the game. But the Raptors closed on a 19-6 run, sealing the victory in the final six seconds when Rafer Alston made two free throws and deflected Dan Dickau’s potential game-tying 3-pointer.
“It was great way to finish a game,” Alston said. “We picked up our intensity, Mo Pete (Peterson) and Jalen really carried us with the scoring down the stretch. It was a good team effort defensively.”
