GAME 5 SONICS V. KINGS LIVE BLOG

Please put your questions and comments in the comment zone at the bottom of the blog. I will try to get to them as soon as possible.

REMEMBER I WILL GIVE OUT THE SECRET PHRASE IN EACH HALF. THEN TOMMOROW DURING THE SHOW I WILL ASK FOR IT. CALL IN AND YOU WIN PLAYOFF TICKETS TO THE SONICS NEXT HOME PLAYOFF GAME.

SONICS WIN THE SERIES AND ADVANCE !!!!!

SONICS 122 KINGS 118 -- FINAL SCORE
RAY ALLEN IS SUPERMAN AGAIN. Peja hit a 3 to make it a 2 point game with :30 seconds left. Allen just worked the dribble, waited until 5 on the shot clock. Guarded by Evans he went to the right hand dribble and got into the lane and scooped in the lay-up.


SONICS 117 KINGS 111 with 1:46 left.
Brad Miller crumbles under pressure. We have seen it all season when Reggie bothers him. he is extremely frustrated right now.
Nick Collison missed both free throws and Miller couldn't corral the rebound. Seattle ball.
Peja didn't get the rebound on the last miss.
Peja has not taken a shot since he missed his 4th on the 5th possession of the quarter.


REACTION TO COMMENTS

Andy said...

It's over...peja pulled a peja.

The question who is pulling a bigger peja -- peja or miller.

SONICS 113 KINGS 104 with 3:26 left in the game (series?)
Lewis is on his own 7-0 run. Welcome back Rashard. (THAT IS THE SECRET PHRASE FOR THE SECOND HALF. LISTEN TO LOCKED ON SPORTS TOMMOROW WHEN I CALL FOR YOU WIN TICKETS TO THE SONICS NEXT HOME PLAYOFF GAME)

SONICS 110 KINGS 104 with 3:51 left in the game
AD is finshing again tonight for Nate at the point guard.
Collison re-enters for Vlady. JJ has 5 fouls.
With all his dramatics tonight AD might join Jamie Foxx at the Oscars next year.
Lewis first points of the 4th Q with 4:45 left.
JJ makes the dumbest pass out of a post for a turnover. Trying to cute instead a fool.
Lewis going at Peja with nice aggressiveness.
Brad Miller is either gassed or he is playing the role of Peja in the 4th quarter

SONICS 106 KINGS 101 with 5:45 left in the 4th Q
Peja 0 for 5 -- Lewis blocks Peja.
Gorgeous back door to Allen from AD
4th Q pts -- Allen 7, Nick 5, AD 2, JJ 2
Sac -- Peja 4 (all free throws), Miller 2, Williamson 2.


SONICS 102 Kings 97 with 6:48 in the 4th quarter.
Rashard comes in for Vlady. Vlady has been dissapointing. A win tonight would give him a needed break to get his rhythm back.
RAY ALLEN IS SUPERMAN. ANOTHER UNREAL THREE OVER EVANS.
He then made an amazing block on Williamson right after the 3.

SONICS 97 KINGS 95 with 9:07 4th quarter
Peja just missed his best shot. A two dribble J to his left and he missed. 0 for 4.
Surprise, Surprise -- Rick Adelman is berating the officials.
His teammates all meet with him and hugged him for support when the play stopped. This is in his head big time.
Nick Collison back to back buckets.
The bench has brought the juice that was missing.
The arena is going nuts.
How will the Kings react? Will Peja fight through this? This could be an amazing fall from grace for Peja.
KINGS 95 SONICS 92 with 9:53 in the 4th Q
Where does Nate turn? Danny is playing terribly, Reggie has negated in this series. The Kings are exploited JJ on defense? He will go to JJ.
Peja starts the quarter 0 for 3.

KINGS 93 SONICS 92 opening moments of the 4th Q
What will Peja do in the 4th is what everyone in Sacramento is wondering? Will he disappear again?

KINGS 93 SONICS 90 end of 3rd Quarter
Rashard Lewis is going to have to fight through the Kings defense and make plays in the 4th.
Everything in the second half is different. Everything for the Kings is easy and everything for the Sonics is tough.
Sacramento is playing like a team that has a lot of pride. It is impressive.
Seattle is not sure what is hitting them, they look befuddled.
Seattle's defense is getting beat on every set.
Their are no such thing as nervous buckets or nervous stops for the Kings tonight. They are just playing with no worries and a lot of heart.
With all that said the Sonics are in striking distance and at home.


KINGS 88 SONICS 81 with 2:47 left in the 3rd quarter
Great move by Nate. He has moved Reggie onto Miller so he can shadow the ball in the backcourt.
Seattle is not valuing possessions.
How is Peja get so much room. The Sonics are not switching onto him.
Seattle has no juice. They are in serious trouble.
Nate is going to the bench, they better come with some energy.

REACTION FROM COMMENT ZONE

Chawhe said...

So far in the first half of game 5 JJ has been a little slow defensivly and it has reflected in his offense. Like many ball players in his situation you get your juices going on the def. end then the offense comes.

Exactly that is a great point.

KINGS 82 SONICS 76 with 5:28 left in the 3rd Quarter
Seattle got their first stop at the 7:02 mark of the 3rd Quarter
The Kings are exploiting JJ on the pick and roll in the same fashion they did in Game 3.
Luke Ridnour made two in a row. Sac has to feel good ever time they end up with him shooting.
Lewis can't find any room on the floor. He has to keep working and not wilt.
The Kings have more backdoor baskets tonight then they have had all series
Reggie Evans is lucky he wasn't ejected. He just had a nasty dirty shot at Bibby on a drive.


KINGS 76 SONICS 66 with 8:07 left in the 3rd Quarter
Seattle does not have a defensive stop in the second half
Seattle looks awful.
Sacramento has come to play and stay alive and Seattle has not matched it.

Be sure to check out Kevin Pelton's blog at Supersonics.com.

KINGS 64 SONICS 63 with 10:14 left in the 3rd quarter
Mobley is not in the game. He is out with a sprained right foot.
Knocking a team out of the playoffs is not easy and now the Sonics are in for a fight.
Let's watch shots in the second half. Allen and Lewis combined for only 13 in the first half.

HALTIME STATS
Pace of Play: 48 trips
Offensive Efficiency: 130 (that is very very high)
Defensive Efficiency: 116 (under 105 is the magic number -gave up a 135 in 2nd Q)
Effective FG%: 59%
Defensive EFG% 56% (73% in the 2nd Quarter)
Offensive Rebounding%: 40%
Defensive Rebounding%: 80% (terrific)
Offensive Turnover %: 15%
Defensive Turnover %: 6% (Seattle has to force some turnovers)

SONICS 60 KINGS 57 at Halftime
Nick Collison played the role of JJ making three big plays including a put back dunk to hold off the Kings run.
The Sonics shot allocation is little off. The Kings are doing a nice job of forcing the ball out of the hands of Lewis and Allen. The Sonics still need those guys to make the plays that are deciding plays.


SONICS 56 KINGS 53 with 2:00 left in the 2nd Quarter
The Kings have gotten hot.
This reminds me of Game 2. The Kings got hot and starting rolling, but the Sonics answered with back to back buckets with James in the post. It deflated the Kings and the Sonics burst out in the 3rd Q. Let's see if they can do it again.,

SONICS 54 KINGS 48 with 2:45 left in 1st half
Whatever adjustment was made by the Kings is not working. The only thing I have seen iis they are doubling hard on Allen at all places on the floor, but doubling at 23 feet is basketball death and the Sonics have exploited it by finding the open man.
In addition, they are making Ridnour hit shots and he has.



SONICS 50 KINGS 41with 4:41 left in 2nd Quarter
Adelman is not using Bobby Jackson tonight on Allen. Instead he is using Mo Evans. That is surprising.
Vladyjust beat Peja in the right block. That will be talk of some summer conversations.
LUKE RIDNOUR JUST BROUGHT THE PLACE TO ITS FEET.WITH A REMARKABLE BEHIND THE BACK THROUGH THE LEGS PASS TO LEWIS FOR JAM FROM HALFCOURT.
Sacramento has shown no sign that they can stop the Sonics offense.

SONICS 42 Kings 34 with 7:11 left in the 2nd Quarter.
AD just fell to the floor and seems a bit gimpy.
Cutino Mobley just called for a sub with an injury
I think Luke may end up one of the league leaders in steals in the next few years. His anticipation is great and his hands are amazing. Once he is established some of this years fouls will be steals.
Brad Miller is a terrific passer. He is finding gaps in the Sonics

SONICS 33 Kings 24 with 10:45 left in the 2nd Quarter
There are signs that the Kings are trying to take the easy way out. They took 9 threes on 24 trips down the floor. That is really lazy. Their transition defense is lazy.
AD and Luke are combining for great effort right now.


1ST QUARTER STATS
Pace of Play: 24 trips
Offensive Efficiency: 125 (as good as Game 4)
Defensive Efficiency: 97 (under 105 is the magic number)
Effective FG%: 59%
Defensive EFG% 42
Offensive Rebounding%: 43%
Defensive Rebounding%: 80% (terrific)
Offensive Turnover %: 17%
Defensive Turnover %: 0% (impressive)

SONICS 29 Kings 24 end of the 1st Q
The last two defensive possessions by the Sonics were GREAT. Trapping the double team, perfect rotations and super energy.
The bench seems much better than it has been in this series.

SONICS 25 Kings 24 with 1:31 left in 1st Q
The over on Javie's first T just won. (THAT IS THE SECRET PHRASE FOR TICKETS IN THE FIRST HALF)


SONICS 20 Kings 19 with 3:47 left in the 1st Quarter
Little things. In transition Rashard Lewis went out of his way to pick for Ray Allen to get him an opportunity. That is cool. The ball never got to Allen, but that is what great teams do.
Is it a coincidence that once the Sonics #1 +/- left the game (Jerome James) and the Kings #1 +/- player came into the game that the Kings went on a 7-0 run.

SONICS 17 Kings 12 with 5:31 left in the 1st Quarter
Seattle is beating Sacramento down the floor. The Kings are not picking up in transition.
The Kings are doubling Allen all over the floor
Peja hits his first shot. He went to his left. It is amazing the difference if thehy can force him right.
Peja only scored 10 of his points in Game 4 against Lewis.
It looked as though Reggie Evans punched Miller in the stomach on his way to the Slam Dunk
Jerome James out with 2 fouls. Collison in.

SONICS 9 Kings 2 with 9:14 left in the 1st Quarter
First adjustment from Sacto. They have put the ball in Mobley's hands and have Bibby rolling off the baseline picks to try to get free offensively.
It also allows the Kings to run Allen off of Brad Miller picks.
The arena is pumping.
Ray Allen just drove the middle and faked out Brad Miller so badly that Miller fell to the ground

FINAL NOTE BEFORE TIP-OFF
Steve Javie is one of the officials tonight.
Three betting lines in honor of Javie.
The following odds are over/under lines
First Techinical by 2:00 left 1st Q
Fortson first T - 5:00 left in 2ndQ
Total T's: 4


FROM THE COMMENT ZONE

From DJ
The Sonics are 5 - 9 on three point atempts below the elbow the last two games and 9 - 36 on threes from obove the elbow.

Wow you are a mad man. That is a great note. AD is the player where that is most obvious. I talked to the coaches about the corner three and they said it really isn't a play you can call. Instead, it is the last pass on rotation therefore, usually the spot where the defense breaks down.

On another note I want to thank DJ, Andy and all the other that have made the Comment Zone full of activity during these blogs. Thanks guys.

REACTION TO COMMENTS
From the comment zone ...

It doesn't seem likely that Ray Allen is going to be able to go at a 61% FGP clip again. That was more amazing than 45 points. However, I also think that Rashard Lewis is due to get his jumper going. I also think that with the Kings soft front line, the opportunity for Nick Collison to put up double digit points off of offensive rebounds is pretty high. Particularly if the Kings try and use one of their bigs to stop Jerome James in the post.

I totally agree. They are going to incorporate more of their plan on Jerome and they will double Ray off the pick n rolls. Therefore, AD or Nick is going to have to make some plays. Look for some corner threes being open off the double of Ray. This may mean it is Vlady time. Ray said he thinks Vlady will have a big game.


PRE-GAME NEWS
Rick Adelman says that he wants to double Ray off the pick and roll.
The Sonics want to bring a shooter to the corner of the ballside when Ray is doubled.
The Sonics will still try to work Miller on the pick and roll and on the curl picks.
Which Kings team is going to show up is the great mystery?

SHOOT-AROUND
The Sonics look to clinch tonight. Nothing eventful at shoot-around. The Sonics went through the two scenarios that they anticipate the Kings will throw at them to stop Ray Allen. The group was loose and seemed ready to get the job done.

KEY STATS FOR GAME 5
· Defensive Effective Field Goal% : Effective Field Goal % weighs the value of a three point. In the three wins the Sonics have held the Kings to an effective field goal% of 45% or lower. In the loss they allowed 53%. This is a tough task since the Kings average a regular season effective field goal % of 49.6%