The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
The Spokesman-Review Newspaper The Spokesman-Review
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883
Current Temperature
33°F
Current Conditions
Overcast clouds
View complete weather report

Color Scheme

Subscribe now

Sonics on target

Supersonics' Nick Collison, right, tries to maneuver around Cavaliers' Robert Traylor to the basket. (Associated Press / The Spokesman-Review)
Tom Withers Associated Press
Supersonics' Nick Collison, right, tries to maneuver around Cavaliers' Robert Traylor to the basket. (Associated Press / The Spokesman-Review)

CLEVELAND — Firing from all corners as usual, the Seattle SuperSonics hit a mark Ray Allen once took for granted.

Allen scored 31 points, Vladimir Radmanovic made five 3-pointers and the Sonics reached the 40-win plateau, beating Cleveland 103-86 on Wednesday night to spoil Dan Gilbert’s first game as the Cavaliers’ owner.

Allen made three 3s and the surprising Sonics, one of the NBA’s best outside-shooting teams, went 10 of 17 from behind the arc to improve to 40-16 this season and 5-1 — 4-1 on the road — since the All-Star break.

Predicted by many to finish at the bottom of the Northwest Division, Seattle, which went just 37-45 a season ago, entered with a 12-game lead.

“I remember in my rookie year predicting we would win 45 games,” Allen said. “I had no idea how hard that was going to be until now. Forty wins is not easy. It means a lot to this team and franchise.”

Radmanovic finished with 19 points and Rashard Lewis added 20 for the Sonics, who have identical 20-8 marks at home and on the road.

In two wins over Cleveland this season, Seattle is 20 for 39 on 3-pointers.

“I’ll take that any day,” Allen said. “If people in Cleveland were seeing us for the first time, I could see how they’d say we were the best-shooting team in the NBA.”

Meanwhile, Gilbert, who sat in a courtside seat for much of the first half, might be questioning the soundness of his $375 million investment as the Cavaliers dropped their fourth straight game.

Cleveland’s slide is its longest this season. After leading the Central Division for much of the first half, the Cavaliers are dropping back into the Eastern Conference’s second tier with a tough stretch of games against Philadelphia, Miami, Orlando and Indiana looming.

LeBron James scored 32 points, matching a career high with five 3-pointers for Cleveland. But the All-Star guard spent the final 3:06 watching from the bench after the Sonics had wrapped it up.

“We need a win,” Cavs coach Paul Silas said. “We need to win bad. It’s a rough time for us.”

Zydrunas Ilgauskas added 17 points and Jeff McInnis had 16 for the Cavs, whose bench was outplayed again and outscored 37-8.

Cleveland was within 91-81 with 6:50 left and seemed poised to make a run, but Lewis drained Seattle’s final 3-pointer and Allen dropped a 17-footer from the corner to send Cleveland fans toward the exits.