Seattle ? When Rashard Lewis gets on a roll, it’s sure tough for anyone to slow him.
Lewis scored 36 points, barely missing a season high, and Antonio Daniels added 24 points and eight assists, leading the Seattle SuperSonics to a 122-105 victory over the Utah Jazz on Sunday night.
This was a physical game, with plenty of bumps and collisions.
“We did a good job of playing through the contact and using it to our advantage, getting to the foul line and making things happen,” Daniels said.
Ray Allen added 20 points, and Vladimir Radmanovic had 12 for Seattle, which shot 59 percent (38-of-64) from the floor to snap a two-game losing skid. Luke Ridnour added 13 points and seven assists.
Lewis had a solid game, answering every time the Sonics needed him. Utah got to 109-101 and forced a timeout with 3:39 to play after Matt Harpring scored on consecutive possessions, but Lewis restored order.
Lewis, who scored a season-high 37 against the Clippers on Dec. 14, hit a 3-pointer and made a steal before swishing another 3-pointer that put Seattle ahead 115-103 with 2:20 left.
“What can you say? Rashard was just being Rashard,” Seattle center Jerome James said. “When he’s going like that, there’s not too many people in this league that can guard him.”
It was over moments later after Allen beat the buzzer with a jumper and added a 3-pointer.
“First, they killed us with the pick-and-roll,” said Harpring, who scored 16 points. “Then when we tried to get people on the perimeter to defend, we couldn’t do much the way they were shooting.”
Carlos Boozer led Utah with 20 points and 12 rebounds, but couldn’t stop the Jazz from losing for the fourth time in five games. Mehmet Okur scored 19 points and Gordon Giricek 10.
Andrei Kirilenko scored 14 points and blocked two shots in 14 minutes in his second game back after missing 26 with a sprained knee. He had two points and blocked two shots in 12 minutes in Saturday’s loss to Memphis.
This was a real whistle-fest, with officials Mark Wunderlich, Dan Crawford and Tony Brown assessing eight technical fouls. Utah was called for 38 personal fouls and Seattle 32.
The Sonics also shot a season-high 45 free throws, making 33 to improve to 13-1 when they attempt at least 30 free throws.
Utah cut it to 84-80 late in the third period after a three-point play by Boozer and a technical free throw by Okur.
“That’s the way Utah plays,” James said. “They like to grab. They like to hold. That’s the type of team they’ve been since back in the day. They’re going to play hard and they just kept coming.”
Boozer drew a fifth foul against Seattle’s Danny Fortson, who then was assessed a technical after throwing the ball at the standard in frustration. A questionable call, perhaps, but it seemed to pick Seattle up.
The Sonics opened the fourth quarter with a 13-2 run and led 99-82 with 9:41 remaining. After Boozer’s jumper, Ridnour sliced the lane and found Lewis for a nice reverse dunk that put Seattle up 101-84 with 9:08 to go.
Notes: Besides Fortson and James, technicals were whistled against Utah F Raja Bell and Jazz coach Jerry Sloan. Double-technicals went against Okur and Seattle’s Reggie Evans, with another set for Allen and Utah’s Howard Eisley. … Sonics coach Nate McMillan is 12 wins from 200 in his career and needs 15 to pass Bernie Bickerstaff (202) for third place on the team’s career list. … Jazz C Elden Campbell, obtained in last week’s trade with Detroit for G Carlos Arroyo, is expected to report early this week.
