Bulls continue road trip in Seattle

The Bulls have dropped the first two contests of the swing. On Wednesday, Theo Ratliff’s dunk off a missed shot from Sebastian Telfair with 8.7 seconds left boosted Portland to a 96-93 victory over the Chicago Bulls at the Rose Garden.

Mike Sweetney came off the bench and contributed 24 points and 14 rebounds in the loss to the Trail Blazers for the Bulls. Andres Nocioni had 18 points and Ben Gordon scored 15 for Chicago, which had 22 offensive rebounds to six for Portland.

Chicago is 0-3 as the visitor this season. The Bulls will also play the Lakers, Spurs and Rockets on the tough swing. The fell to Golden State, 100-82, in the opener of the road trip.

The Sonics begin a three-game homestand tonight. They return to KeyArena after going 2-4 on a six-game road trip. On Wednesday, Ray Allen scored a game-high 32 points and pulled down seven rebounds, as Seattle used a big second quarter to down the Boston Celtics, 113-100, at TD Banknorth Garden.

Rashard Lewis poured in 22 points and Luke Ridnour registered 15 points and 13 assists in the win over Boston for the Sonics. Nick Collison chipped in 19 points and 13 rebounds for Seattle, which has won two of its last three. The Sonics snapped a six-game skid in Boston.

Seattle, which is 1-1 at home this season, will also host the Sacramento Kings and the Utah Jazz on the current stand.

The road team has won seven of the last nine meetings in this series. The Bulls have lost three of five and seven of their last 11 at Seattle.