Blazers 109, Sonics 107 | Top rookies missing, but Roy top-notch
PORTLAND - It was supposed to be a sneak preview of No. 1 vs. No. 2.
At least that was the plan a couple of months ago before Greg Oden, the top draft pick, and Kevin Durant, who was taken second, fell to injuries. Without the two headliners, the supporting cast for Seattle and Portland took center stage in the Trail Blazers’ 109-107 exhibition victory Wednesday, which extended the Sonics’ losing streak to five games.
“If they can stay healthy they can possibly win some games,” Blazers coach Nate McMillan said of his former team, the Sonics. “But they’re built for the future.”
The same might be said of Portland, which received a major blow when Oden, who sat on the end of the Blazers’ bench in a blue pinstriped jacket, underwent season-ending microfracture surgery on his right knee Sept. 13.
At least the announced crowd of 11,342 at the Rose Garden got a chance to see Oden. Durant remained in Seattle where he underwent an MRI exam that revealed no fracture of his injured ankle. He’ll miss Friday’s exhibition finale against Phoenix at GM Place in Vancouver, B.C., and will be re-evaluated next week. His status for Wednesday’s regular-season opener at Denver is questionable.
Just to show you how much the Blazers thought of Wednesday’s exhibition, they had the game televised locally.
“We haven’t televised any preseason game,” McMillan said, laughing. “I’m sure everybody wanted to see [Durant], our fans wanted to see what we passed up. He’s a good player. There’s no doubt about that. He’s going to be good if he can stay healthy.”
Jeff Green, the Sonics’ other prized rookie who was taken No. 5 overall, started at small forward, and Damien Wilkins (12 points) moved to shooting guard. Sonics coach P.J. Carlesimo also reinserted center Robert Swift into the starting lineup. It was a trio of reserves, however, which led Seattle (1-6) early.
Forward Nick Collison scored a team-high 17 points, guard Delonte West scored 16 points and seldom-used guard Mickael Gelabale had 15.
Still, the boost from the bench wasn’t enough to avoid a second straight fourth-quarter collapse.
A night after blowing a nine-point lead in the final period of a 126-122 overtime defeat to Golden State, the Sonics led by 10 (94-84) midway in the fourth before last season’s rookie of the year, Brandon Roy, led Portland’s comeback.
The former Garfield High and Washington standout scored 14 of his 22 points in the final quarter on a series of dribble drives around West. When Roy didn’t finish with a short jumper, he found Martell Webster (19 points), who gave Portland its first second-half lead on a three-pointer that put the Blazers up 106-105 with 32.4 seconds left.
“We put Delonte … in a tough situation because of Brandon,” Carlesimo said. “We wanted to watch people in situations.”
Seattle finished the game with Luke Ridnour, West, Green, Collison and Johan Petro, who struggled in the final minute as he failed to grab defensive rebounds and missed a point-blank dunk with 51.9 seconds left that would have given Seattle a four-point lead.
“You don’t like to see big guys altering their shots,” Carlesimo said. “That was a huge possession. Nick delivered the ball. You’d like to think you’ve got to get to the basket or get a foul out of that.”
Ridnour gave Seattle its final lead (107-106) on free throws with 22 seconds remaining before Roy struck again, draining a short jumper with 17.1 seconds left.
“I was like, ‘This is preseason,’ but we can’t simulate this in practice,” said Roy, who missed four exhibitions because of a left heel injury and won’t play in the exhibition finale. “I said to myself, ‘I’m only going to play two games,’ so I’ve got to make the most of this situation.
“As we kept coming back, Coach was like, ‘We’re going to call plays as if this was a real game. We’re going to go to you down the stretch as if this game counts.’ ”
LaMarcus Aldridge scored a game-high 31 points for Portland, which improved to 4-2.
Notes
• Gelabale jammed his left wrist, but X-rays showed no serious damage.
• G Earl Watson was inactive.
SuperSonics summary
SEATTLE - Green 4-10 1-2 9, Wilcox 2-5 0-0 4, Swift 3-4 0-0 6, Wilkins 4-11 3-3 12, Ridnour 3-7 2-2 8, Collison 8-9 1-2 17, West 6-16 4-4 16, Gelabale 5-6 4-4 15, Szczerbiak 4-7 0-0 9, Thomas 2-5 2-2 6, Petro 2-4 1-2 5, Totals 43-84 18-21 107.
PORTLAND - Webster 7-12 2-2 19, Aldridge 12-19 7-9 31, Przybilla 0-2 1-2 1, Roy 8-18 6-12 22, Jack 3-10 5-7 11, Blake 1-5 3-4 5, Outlaw 5-9 3-4 13, Frye 1-4 0-0 2, Rodriguez 2-4 0-0 5, Green 0-1 0-0 0, LaFrentz 0-2 0-0 0, Totals 39-86 27-40 109.
Seattle
24 36 21 26 - 107
Portland
31 25 19 34 - 109
Three-point goals - Seattle 3-12 (Gelabale 1-1, Szczerbiak 1-3, Wilkins 1-4, West 0-2, Ridnour 0-2), Portland 4-9 (Webster 3-5, Rodriguez 1-1, Green 0-1, Jack 0-2). Rebounds - Seattle 37 (Wilcox 7), Portland 44 (Aldridge 13). Assists - Seattle 19 (Ridnour 8), Portland 16 (Roy 5). Total fouls - Seattle 28, Portland 17. Technical - Portland Defensive Three Second. A - 11,342 (19,980).