Sonic boom: Allen leads Seattle to win over Jazz

Three other players finished in double figures for the SuperSonics, who carried the momentum from Sunday’s thrilling 152-149 victory over Phoenix and dominated the Jazz from start to finish. Rashard Lewis contributed 16 points while Damien Wilkins and Ronald Murray had 15 and 12, respectively.

Seattle shot an impressive 53 percent from the field and was even better from three-point range. The Sonics made 7-of-13 tries from long distance, with Allen making 5-of-6 from beyond the arc.

Andrei Kirilenko compiled 24 points and 10 rebounds while Mehmet Okur had 20 points and 13 boards in the loss, Utah’s fifth in seven games.

Seattle controlled the game right from the start, as the Sonics opened things up with an 11-2 run and built a double-digit lead after Allen knocked down a three-pointer midway through the first quarter to make the score 17-7.

Less than two minutes later, Ridnour hit a jumper to extend the margin to 13 points at 24-13.

The Sonics continued to pull away in the second quarter, as a three-point play by Lewis followed by Murray’s outside bucket ended a 7-0 run that put the visitors up 40-23 with 7 1/2 minutes left in the half. Seattle cruised into the break holding a cushy 55-39 lead.

Utah scored the first seven points of the second half and got its deficit under single digits on an Okur triple 2 1/2 minutes into the third quarter. But the Sonics countered with an 11-1 burst and went up 66-47 on Mikki Moore’s tip-in with around six minutes left in the period.

Five straight points from Wilkins put Seattle ahead 80-59 heading into the final minute of the third quarter.

The Sonics led by as many as 23 points in the fourth quarter and the Jazz never got the margin under 14.

Game Notes

Utah guard Gordan Giricek did not dress because of tendinitis in his left Achilles...Seattle won back-to-back games for the first time since December 16th and 19th...The road team has won all three games in the season series, with the Sonics besting the Jazz twice in Salt Lake City...Seattle allowed an opponent under 100 points for just the second time in nine games...Utah fell to 10-11 at home this season...Seattle has won six of the last eight meetings between the teams.