Allen paces Sonics over Cavs

Chris Wilcox and Nick Collison each displayed strong inside play. Wilcox ended with 16 points and 12 rebounds, while Collison had 14 points and 12 boards, as the Sonics won their second straight following a six-game skid.

LeBron James had 30 points, seven rebounds and eight assists for the Cavs, who lost for the second time in eight contests. Zydrunas Ilgauskas tallied 24 points and 11 rebounds for Cleveland, which wasted a five-point lead with just over five minutes left.

Ilgauskas’ jumper boosted the Cavs to an 87-82 lead with 5:12 left, but the Sonics scored the next six points, ended by a pair of Wilcox free throws.

James then made one foul shot with 3:01 left to square the game at 88, but Collison hit the go-ahead jumper 19 seconds later. Then, after Ilgauskas missed a shot, Allen drained two from the foul line with two minutes to go.

James sank two from the free throw line with 58.5 seconds left to get Cleveland within 95-93, but Wilcox’s hook shot made it a four-point contest.

Larry Hughes then missed a three-point try for the Cavs and Luke Ridnour hit two foul shots over a nine-second span.

Damon Jones’ three had the Cavs within 99-96 with 12.7 ticks remaining, but Allen iced the victory with a pair from the charity stripe less than a second later.

Earl Watson scored 12 and Ridnour ended with 11 for the Sonics.

The Cavs trailed by as many as eight in the opening quarter, but bounced back to lead 28-24 going into the second. Cleveland stretched its lead to 51-43 in the second before settling for a 54-49 edge at the break.

Game Notes

Cleveland has lost 13 of 15 and 18 of its last 21 at Seattle...Rookie Mickael Gelabale had nine points and four rebounds for the Sonics.