SEATTLE -- About halfway to the basket, Kevin Durant decided
his skinny frame wasn't about to shy away from taking on a 7-footer
at the rim.
The result: 27 games into his NBA career, Seattle's 19-year-old
rookie now has a poster-worthy dunk sure to be replayed and
highlighted often.
Durant's baseline slam over 7-foot Toronto center Rasho
Nesterovic was certainly impressive enough. But the dunk was only
part of Durant's 27-point performance, as the SuperSonics held off
the Raptors 123-115 on Friday night.
When Durant caught the touch pass from Earl Watson and took one
dribble toward the basket, he didn't plan on dunking over
Nesterovic. But when the burly center went to challenge Durant, the
rookie showed he can power the big guys on the inside.
"I've just got to start doing that more, trying to finish when
guys attack," Durant said. "That was one of the turning points of
the game."
The Sonics rebounded from a lackluster, uninspired effort two
nights earlier against New Orleans, thanks largely to Durant, who
made 11 of 18 shots, and 23 points from Wally Szczerbiak.
Durant scored 14 in the third quarter, including Seattle's first
11 of the second half. His dunk and subsequent free-throw pulled
Seattle within 70-67, but it was Durant's no-look pass to Chris
Wilcox for a fastbreak dunk minutes later that ignited a 21-9
Sonics' run to close the third quarter.
Seattle eventually built an 18-point lead in the fourth quarter,
and it needed all of the advantage to hold off a late flurry by the
Raptors.
Chris Bosh led Toronto with 26 points, 16 coming in the first
half, but he had just two points in the fourth quarter and made
just 1 of 6 attempts. The Raptors dropped their second straight
game on a seven-game Western Conference swing, but made the Sonics
sweat in the final seconds.
Seattle took its biggest lead at 116-98 on Durant's fourth
3-pointer with 4:09 left. Toronto made a furious rally, outscoring
Seattle 13-0 over the next 2½ minutes, behind 3-pointers from
Carlos Delfino, Jason Kapono and Anthony Parker, and two baskets by
Jose Calderon.
Szczerbiak's jumper with 1:25 left stemmed the surge, but
Calderon scored again. Calderon finally missed, but a Seattle
turnover gave Toronto the ball with 36 seconds left, down 118-113.
Delfino hit a wide open 3 with 31 seconds left, but officials
correctly ruled his left foot was on the sideline when he caught
the ball.
"We needed that call, no question," Szczerbiak said.
After Damien Wilkins made one of two free throws, Bosh dropped
an inbound pass that Wilkins grabbed. He hit both free throws this
time to seal the victory.
"We battled back, but then you have to try and play perfect
basketball and you make one mistake and it deflates you," Toronto
coach Sam Mitchell said.
Wilcox shot 7 of 7 and finished with 16 points and Nick Collison
had 10 points and 10 rebounds, as seven Sonics scored in double
figures. Watson, Jeff Green and Luke Ridnour all added 10 points.
Seattle took control with its run late in the third quarter, but
it was the start of the quarter where Durant kept the Sonics close.
Durant added a deep 3 as part of Seattle's run, but it was
Collison, Green and Szczerbiak doing most of the work. Collison
assisted on three straight baskets and Szczerbiak capped the
quarter with his third 3-pointer to give Seattle a 92-83 lead.
The lead grew to 18 on Durant's 3-pointer, before Toronto's
final rally.
"We have to play better defense. I think we just had a couple
of breakdowns and their confidence went up a little bit," Bosh
said.
The Raptors matched their season-high with 13 3-pointers. Parker
scored 18 and Kapono scored 16 off the bench. Delfino and Calderon
both finished with 15.
^Notes:@ Calderon had seven assists in the first quarter and
finished with 16, matching his season-high. ... Toronto led 62-56
at halftime. The 62 points was Toronto's most in the first half
this season. ... Seattle has three days off before playing
Christmas night in Portland.