SEATTLE -- Leave it to embattled Indiana Pacers coach Rick Carlisle to put the surprising Seattle SuperSonics into perspective.
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| Rashard Lewis and the Sonics' dedication is clearly reflected in their record.(AP) |
"You've got to give Nate a lot of credit," said Carlisle, who four years ago was the Sonics' broadcast analyst. "They're playing the exact style they have to play to be successful with the personnel that they have. Right now, Nate's doing the best job in the league coaching.
"Their team right now is playing as unselfish as any team in the league. And when you've got that kind of chemistry, and that kind of sharing of the ball, it breeds more good things. For whatever reasons, we've seen it for as long as this game has been around, the more people's hands the ball touches, the more it goes in the basket. They're a great example of that."
The concept of it almost seems to mystify McMillan, who is in the last season of a four-year contract. In fact, he seems almost embarrassed at the 13-2 start, particularly when the entire Western World found them more apt to be 2-13. But he has taken on the Larry Brown mantra of "play the right way," and the team has bought into it.
Sunday seemed to be another set-up for the Pacers, who entered the game an unlikely 3-1 since the Detroit nightmare, but the last thing McMillan would allow them to do was take the inexperienced Pacers for granted.
"One of the messages on the board was that the first couple teams that played them may have taken them lightly," McMillan said. "We couldn't do that. This game is about respecting the game and respecting your opponents. That has been my message to this team every night. You respect the game, you play the game hard and you play the game the right way. And you definitely respect the opponents you are playing, regardless of who is in uniform. Tonight, we came out and played aggressive basketball from start to finish."
Nonetheless, the Pacers got off to a 15-4 start until the Sonics went on one of their patented 3-point barrages. Leading the league in 3-point percentage coming in at .395, they hit 7-of-10 to start the game and finished 11-of-22. And were it not for 6-of-9 shooting from 3-point range from Pacers youngster James Jones, who finished with a career-high 27 points, the Sonics would have blown them out.
Even as the Pacers hung with them, the Sonics kept finding ways to score. Racking up 24 assists will do that, particularly when your starting backcourt of Ray Allen (nine) and Luke Ridnour (eight) combine for 17. For the ninth time this season, Rashard Lewis had 20 points or more, this time with 22.
But whether it's Allen or Lewis or Ridnour, or Vladimir Radmanovic or Antonio Daniels, different people have been hitting big shots all season. And that's not to mention the heavy board work and interior defense of Danny Fortson, Reggie Evans and rapidly improving rookie Nick Collison.
"It isn't surprising to us. We know what we can do," Lewis said. "We're staying together as a team, and we've got to stay together as a team. I'm not saying we knew we were going to be 13-2, but we know we can compete with any team in the NBA and compete in every game.
"We have different guys stepping up every night. Whether it's somebody in the starting lineup, or somebody coming off the bench, different guys are helping us win every night. Coach is doing a good job at exploiting who's got a hot hand and who's helping us win the game. We're not being selfish."
