Lewis leads laugher

SEATTLE – Rashard Lewis returned to his early-season form, scoring 21 of his 34 points in the first half, and the Seattle SuperSonics won their third straight with a 121-105 over the Memphis Grizzlies on Tuesday night.

Lewis missed 22 games in late December, January and earlier this month with an injured shooting hand. Before his Dec. 20 injury, Lewis was making a strong argument to at least be in the All-Star discussion.

The injury ended any hopes of a second All-Star appearance, but Lewis posted his third straight game with at least 20 points, not surprisingly coinciding with the Sonics’ win streak. Lewis made 13 of 25 shots, taking advantage of his matchups with either Mike Miller or Rudy Gay, scoring both on the perimeter and in the lane. It was two shy of his season high of 36 against Memphis in December.

All five Seattle starters finished in double figures, three of them recording double-doubles. Ray Allen added 27 points, while Luke Ridnour had 15 points and 12 assists. Chris Wilcox scored 13 with 15 rebounds and Nick Collison added 10 and 14 boards.

Miller led the Grizzlies with 20 points and Gay finished with 19. Pau Gasol added 17 points and 12 rebounds, but he went nearly 1 1/2 quarters without scoring.

Already leading by six at halftime, Seattle sprinted away from the Grizzlies with a 21-8 run midway through the third quarter, building the lead to 18 before Memphis finally stemmed the run.

Allen started the spurt with a crossover that buckled Miller’s knees, then finished off the three-point play with a left-handed layup. Wilcox gave Seattle its biggest lead to that point with a lob dunk on the back of Gasol minutes later.

Seattle added to its advantage. Lewis slammed an ally-oop dunk in transition from Ridnour and by the time Wilcox scored on a tough double-clutch shot in the lane, the Sonics’ lead was up to 87-69. Seattle made 10 of 12 shots during the stretch.