Gordon, Wallace lead Bulls past Sonics

Ben Wallace set season-highs with 15 points and 20 rebounds, while also tying a season-high with five blocks for the Bulls, who have won nine of their last 10 and improved to 6-1 on their current eight-game home stand.

"We throw Ben the ball quite a bit in the course of games," said Bulls head coach Scott Skiles. "Tonight, he saw some openings and took them and scored. That was a big performance."

Andres Nocioni scored 20 points and Kirk Hinrich had 14 points and eight assists for Chicago, which beat Seattle at home for the first time since Michael Jordan played on the team in 1998.

Rashard Lewis scored 18 points and pulled down 13 boards for the SuperSonics, who have dropped their first two games of their current five-game road trip. Damien Wilkins had 16 points, eight rebounds and seven assists, but committed eight turnovers.

Seattle continued to play without all-star Ray Allen, who is out with a bone bruise in his right foot.

"I thought, under the circumstances, the guys played a good game," said SuperSonics head coach Bob Hill. "Chicago is a tough team and I was proud to see our guys didn’t quit when we got down."

Chicago was all over Seattle from the start, outscoring the SuperSonics 31-18 in the first quarter.

Holding a one point lead midway though period, the Bulls ripped off a 19-4 spurt, capped by back-to-back treys from Nocioni and Gordon that gave Chicago a 28-12 lead with 1:59 left.

Chicago extended its lead to 49-33 at the break and took a 78-60 lead into the final quarter.

Seattle briefly made things interesting in the fourth, opening the quarter with an 11-4 run that brought the SuperSonics within 82-71 on Johan Petro’s field goal with eight minutes left to play.

However, the Bulls answered with a 13-5 run to coast to their second win in a row.

"We had a lot of energy right from the beginning of the game," said Skiles. "When we get after people you see what can happen, we become a pretty exciting team."

Game Notes

Luol Deng had 13 points and six rebounds for the Bulls...Petro finished with 16 points and 10 boards off the bench for Seattle...Surprisingly, Seattle outrebounded the Bulls 48-45....Chicago will conclude its current homestand on Friday against Milwaukee...Seattle guard Earl Watson sat out with a back contusion.