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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Magic run past Sonics


Seattle's Rashard Lewis soars over Orlando's Stacey Augmon on Friday.
 (Associated Press / The Spokesman-Review)
From Wire Reports The Spokesman-Review

ORLANDO, Fla. – Some of the newest members of the Orlando Magic made a good first impression on their hometown fans.

Carlos Arroyo and Darko Milicic provided strong support for stars Dwight Howard and Grant Hill in Orlando’s 102-89 victory over the Seattle SuperSonics on Friday night that snapped an eight-game losing streak.

Howard had 23 points and 16 rebounds and Hill had 19 points on 8-of-11 shooting, but it was Arroyo and Milicic, the second pick in the 2003 NBA draft, who lifted the Magic out of their latest slump.

Playing in Magic uniforms in front of their home fans for the first time since being acquired from Detroit a week ago, Arroyo had a season-high 18 points and four assists and Milicic had eight points and five rebounds in 22 minutes, all season highs.

Damien Wilkins led Seattle with 21 points and Chris Wilcox had a season-high 20. Rashard Lewis added 14 for the Sonics, who played just seven players.

The Sonics were short-handed after taking part in a four-team trade Thursday and making another deal with Cleveland.

Neither Earl Watson, obtained from Denver, nor Mike Wilks, brought over from Cleveland, was available yet and forward Nick Collison was back in Seattle awaiting the birth of his child.

All-Star guard Ray Allen was on the Sonics bench at the start of the game so Seattle could meet the league-mandated rule of eight players in uniform. Allen returned to the locker room as soon as the game began because of stomach flu, and did not play.

“I don’t think we could have done much more than we did,” Seattle coach Bob Hill said. “I thought they just wore us out with their depth.”

Nevertheless, the Sonics were able to stay with the Magic into the fourth quarter. They trailed 78-76 after a 3-pointer by Lewis with 10:36 left in the game.

The Magic responded with an 11-2 run to push their lead to 89-78. Arroyo capped the run with a 3-pointer. The Magic lead never dipped to less than 10 the rest of the game.

Lewis misses Evans

Now that Reggie Evans is gone, traded away to the Nuggets, Rashard Lewis felt free to express what the rest of his Seattle teammates have thought about Evans since Jan. 3, when Evans lost his starting job to Vladimir Radmanovic and never regained it.

“I didn’t understand,” Lewis said. “I was clueless. I tried to understand, maybe (it was) because Vladimir could spread the floor so they can’t double team me and Ray (Allen). But at the same time, in certain games, we needed rebounds, we needed somebody to do the dirty work, so it was kind of difficult to understand that situation between him and coach Bob Hill. Nobody understood why he all of a sudden wasn’t playing.

“I think it confused a lot of people. He has been our starting (power forward) for the last couple years … until Bob Hill became the coach. I guess Coach Hill wanted to go with the young guys, and gave Vladimir the starting position, which Vladimir wanted all along, to be that starter. Reggie just stopped seeing the court. He was professional about it; he wasn’t being a cancer in the locker room. Outside of basketball, he would say he wanted to play more.”

Meanwhile, Hill said Mike Wilks, acquired in the trade that sent Ronald Murray to Cleveland, will join the team today in Miami and could play tonight against the Heat.

Earl Watson, a player the Sonics received in exchange for Evans and Vitaly Potapenko, will be available Tuesday against New Orleans.