Seattle SuperSonics Team Report - March 24

(Basketball News) - The Seattle SuperSonics go for their fourth straight win on Thursday, as they visit the struggling Portland Trail Blazers at the Rose Garden.

It will be the third meeting of the season between the clubs. Portland defeated the Sonics, 100-94, on November 30th in front of its home crowd, while Seattle knocked off the Blazers, 99-89, on December 4th at KeyArena. The teams will play on April 1st at Seattle in the final contest of the 2004-05 campaign between the squads.

Overall, these two teams have split the last six meetings in this series, while the Blazers have won seven of the last 10 contests. Seattle has lost five straight and seven of its last eight at Portland.

The Sonics have a comfortable 10-game lead over the second-place Denver Nuggets in the Northwest Division, and are currently the third seed in the Western Conference playoff race.

On Tuesday, All-Star Rashard Lewis scored 29 points and Luke Ridnour finished with a career-best 21 points and game-high nine assists to lead Seattle over the Milwaukee Bucks, 92-84, at KeyArena. Ronald Murray tallied 13 points and Antonio Daniels had 10 for the Sonics, who have won five of their last six overall.

Lewis shot 11-of-23 from the field, including 7-of-11 from three, as the Sonics ended the contest against Milwaukee shooting 41 percent from the floor and 46 percent (10-of-22) from behind the arc.

Seattle’s other All-Star Ray Allen missed his first game of the season Tuesday after suffering a sprained right ankle in Sunday’s victory over the Los Angeles Lakers. Allen is questionable for Thursday’s game.

The SuperSonics are an impressive 23-9 as the visitor this season. Seattle, which is 38-4 when it allows under 100 points, has won eight of its last 10 on the road.

Seattle will host the New York Knicks on Friday. It will be the second and final meeting of the season between the clubs. On March 13th, Seattle defeated the Knicks, 90-80, at Madison Square Garden. With the victory, the SuperSonics snapped a six-game series road losing streak. Overall, the Sonics have won three of the last four contests in this series, while New York has won five of the last eight meetings. The Knicks have lost two straight and three of their last four at Seattle.

The Sonics will return to KeyArena on Sunday to host the Washington Wizards. It will also be the second and final meeting of the season between the clubs. On January 6th, the Wizards defeated Seattle, 107-96, at the MCI Center.

Lewis has scored 20 or more points in 10 of his last 12 games and has played 40 or more minutes in nine of the 12 contests. He is averaging 21.0 points and 5.6 rebounds this season for Seattle.