Sonics headed for early vacation

Seattle trails the Los Angeles Lakers and Sacramento Kings by 7 1/2 games for the eighth and final playoff spot in the Western Conference. The SuperSonics have 17 games left on their scheduled and will play nine of the contests on the road.

On Thursday, All-Star Ray Allen scored 26 points to lead the SuperSonics over the Allen Iverson-less Philadelphia 76ers, 102-98, at KeyArena. Rashard Lewis ended with 18 points, while Chris Wilcox netted 17 for the SuperSonics, who have won three of their four games overall. Johan Petro and Earl Watson both netted 12 apiece in the victory.

It was the second and final meeting of the season between Seattle and the Sixers. On January 9th, Iverson netted 41 to lead Philadelphia to a 107-98 win over the SuperSonics at the Wachovia Center. The 76ers had a four-game winning streak at Seattle halted.

Allen leads the Sonics in scoring (25.1 ppg) this season. The Connecticut product has scored in double-digits in 60 of the 61 games he has played in during the campaign. Allen has logged 40 or more minutes in four straight games and is averaging 29.0 points, 4.5 rebounds and 5.0 assists in that span.

The SuperSonics are 16-17 as the host this season and 10-22 on the road. They have scored over 100 points in four straight contests.