Starters turn out Super for Sonics

First-year Seattle coach Bob Weiss promised coming into Friday night’s final NBA exhibition game against Portland that the Spokane fans who showed up at the Arena would get a good, long look at the SuperSonics who matter the most.

He made good on that promise, playing all five of his starters for at least 20 minutes in a 96-85 win over the Trail Blazers that meant quite a bit in the face of Thursday night’s disappointing 94-92 road loss to the Los Angeles Clippers.

Ray Allen, playing almost 30 minutes, led a balanced Seattle scoring attack with 20 points, while backup guard Ronald “Flip” Murray added 17. In addition, starting point guard Luke Ridnour scored 12 as the Sonics closed the exhibition season at 3-5.

Portland (2-6) was paced by Zach Randolph, who finished with 19 points.

“I saw us use a lot more judgment tonight,” Weiss said after the game. “Last night we were pressing it, instead of letting it come to us. We wasted a lot of opportunities in the first half the other night in not realizing when we had to run and when we had to set up.

“Tonight, we did a lot better job of that.”

Weiss added that the extensive number of minutes logged by his starters had more to do with trying to get his team ready for the start of the regular season, only four days off, than it did with trying to reward the 6,761 paying fans who showed up.

“I wasn’t doing it for (the fans),” he explained. “We need to get our timing, we need to get our rotations set and I need to have another scorer come out on a consistent basis.”

On this night, that additional scorer proved to be Murray, who made 7 of 11 field goals, including three 3-pointers. Weiss also liked the play of backup point guard Rick Brunson.

“Flip Murray was terrific tonight,” he said. “And Rick Brunson got to play a little bit. I thought he had a good night. He showed he can run a team in the half court and get us into the pick and roll.

“And Danny Fortson had a good night, too. There were just a lot of positives out there.”

Ridnour said he likes where the Sonics are heading into the regular season, which will kick off Wednesday in Seattle’s KeyArena with a rematch against the Clippers.

“We slowed down a little bit tonight and ran some stuff,” he explained. “We’re excited – about the whole preseason, really. I think we can be good. We’ve got a good nucleus back, so there’s no telling what we can do this season.”

Weiss was a little more subdued, saying he will be more excited about the start of the regular season “after four more days of practice.

“We’ve got a lot more work to do,” he added.

Against the Blazers, Seattle used 14 unanswered early in the third period to take control of what had been a close game. Allen ignited the run with a 3-pointer and both Ridnour and Rashard Lewis chipped in with a pair of field goals.

Weiss said he was pleased with the decision-making of Ridnour, his third-year floor leader, who has been a bit too frantic in the preseason.

“It’s been a decision between ‘Do I go, or do I pull it back and run something,’ ” Weiss explained. “He’s been trying to get us into a running mode, and that’s why (we’ve had) the confusion. We talked about that a little bit today, and he adapted very quickly to it.”

When asked about making the annual exhibition trek to Spokane, Weiss, a longtime Sonics assistant, said, “I always like coming back here – a beautiful hotel, beautiful city and they always have excited fans who appreciate the game.

“So, it’s fun to come back.”

SuperSonics 96, Trail Blazers 85

Portland (85) – Patterson 5-8 2-5 12, Randolph 7-15 5-8 19, Przybilla 3-4 0-0 6, Blake 1-4 1-2 3, Smith 4-10 2-2 10, Outlaw 1-4 2-2 4, Ratliff 0-2 0-0 0, Jack 3-6 3-3 9, Dixon 1-4 0-0 2, Khryapa 1-2 0-1 2, Monia 2-4 2-2 6, Webster 2-4 2-2 6, Seung-Jin 3-3 0-0 6. Totals 33-70 19-27 85.

Seattle (96) – Evans 2-5 2-4 6, Lewis 3-11 0-0 7, Petro 4-5 0-0 8, Allen 7-13 2-2 20, Ridnour 6-11 0-1 12, Collison 4-6 0-2 8, Radmanovic 2-8 2-2 7, Fortson 1-3 5-6 7, Murray 7-11 0-0 17, Brunson 2-3 0-2 4, Swift 0-1 0-0 0, Wilkins 0-0 0-0 0, Moore 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 38-77 11-19 96.

3-Point Goals—Portland 0-10 (Outlaw 0-1, Blake 0-1, Dixon 0-1, Jack 0-1, Webster 0-1, Monia 0-2, Smith 0-3), Seattle 9-19 (Allen 4-7, Murray 3-5, Radmanovic 1-3, Lewis 1-4). Fouled Out—None. Rebounds—Portland 43 (Przybilla 11), Seattle 49 (Evans, Fortson 8). Assists—Portland 25 (Blake 7), Seattle 20 (Allen 7). Total Fouls—Portland 19, Seattle 24. Technicals—Seattle Defensive Three Second, Fortson. A—6,776. (12,210).