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QUARTER-BY-QUARTER ANALYSIS
First quarter: The Bobcats came into their final game of a four-game Western Conference road trip short-handed missing Kareem Rush (back spasms), Jamal Sampson (back spasms) and Jahidi White (shoulder) due to injuries. Charlotte fell behind early as Seattle's Rashard Lewis and Ray Allen each connected on a three-point bucket to start the game. The Bobcats committed three turnovers and missed five of their first six shots in the opening minutes to enable the Sonics to build a 10-3 advantage. Six quick points, including a lay-up and a dunk from Gerald Wallace, helped the Bobcats close the gap to 3 (12-9). The Bobcats would get no closer as Ray Allen and the Sonics offense went on a tear. Allen scored six of his 14 first quarter points during a 10-2 Sonics run that helped Seattle extend their advantage to 11. A Steve Smith jumper pulled the Bobcats to within nine with seconds left on the clock, but Rashard Lewis connected a three-point jumper at the buzzer to gve the Sonics a 34-22 advantage at the end of one. The Sonics finished the quarter shooting a red hot 69 percent from the field. Second quarter: The two teams traded baskets early on in the second quarter before the Bobcats went cold making only one field goal over a four minute span. The Sonics capitalized, going on a 15-5 spurt, capped by running jumper from Luke Ridnour that helped them extend their lead to 24 with 2:25 left in the first half. Ray Allen and Vladmir Radmanovic led all scorers with 18 as Seattle took a 69-46 lead into the break. Melvin Ely led the Bobcats, scoring 13 points in the first half. Seattle finished the first half shooting 10-14 (71.4%) from three-point range. Third quarter: With Seattle still holding a 23-point advantage four minutes into the quarter, the Bobcats, behind four points from Jason Hart, went on an 11-2 spurt to cut the deficit to 14. The Sonics responded with an 8-1 run to build their lead back to 21. At the end of three, Seattle held a 89-72 lead over the visiting Bobcats. Fourth quarter: The game was never in doubt, as Seattle's offense continued to fire on all cylinders in the fourth quarter. A 12-5 run by the Bobcats at the 6:41 mark cut the Sonics lead to 13, but Charlotte could not narrow the gap any further as the Sonics captured the 113-99 victory. Seattle finished the game shooting 53.8% (14-26) from three-point range and outscored the Bobcats 48-32 in the paint. Ray Allen finished with 25 points and Vladamir Radmanovic added 23 for Seattle. Seattle's Reggie Evans dominated the glass, grabbing a career-best 21 rebounds. Melvin Ely scored 22 points, recording a career-best for the second straight game. Jason Kapono added 17.
GM & HEAD COACH BERNIE BICKERSTAFF SAYS...
(on Seattle) “They made shots and that’s the name of that game. Every time they shot the ball it went in the basket. Our objective was to take the threes away. We told our guys at the half that if we took the threes away then we were only down 9. We acquiesced to their strongest part of their game…threes.” (on his team) “It really doesn’t take a genius to figure out we were somewhat limited in terms of the bodies that we had. I’m proud of my guys. They played hard and they play hard every night. We got our butts kicked tonight so we are gonna pack up, shower and go home.”
INSIDE THE LOCKER ROOM
MELVIN ELY (on Reggie Evans) “If you know Reggie you know he’s gonna do anything to get that ball. He’ll kick, bite, push or whatever. He’s a dear friend of mine so I was hitting him and pushing him. He was hitting and pushing back. I don’t there is anybody that loves to go out there against Reggie. He’s one of those guys that doesn’t take a break. He’s gonna go at you hard the whole time.”
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