Sonics Hold Off LeBron-Less Cavs

Seattle 101, Cleveland 95

SEATTLE -- With LeBron James out nursing a right ankle sprain, the Seattle SuperSonics finished off a sweep of last year's NBA finalists.

Chris Wilcox scored Seattle's first 10 points, Kevin Durant had 12 of his 24 in the first quarter, and the SuperSonics held off a late Cleveland surge to beat the James-less Cavaliers 101-95 on Thursday night.

Two nights after snapping their franchise-record, 14-game losing streak by beating the NBA champion San Antonio Spurs -- without Tony Parker -- the Sonics took out the Eastern Conference champ Cavs.

Of course this win isn't as impressive since James, the NBA's leading scorer at 30.1 points per game, sat on the bench in a brown blazer and jeans.

James sprained his right ankle late in the second quarter of Wednesday night's win over Portland. The injury didn't keep James on the sideline, as he scored 17 fourth-quarter points, including the game-winning layup to extend the Cavs' road win streak to five games, their longest since the 1998 season.

For much of the night, that streak appeared destined for a crashing end. Wilcox gave Seattle a 10-4 lead and the Sonics led by double digits less than 6 minutes in. The lead grew to 22 in the first half and the Sonics led by 17 entering the fourth quarter.

That's when the Cavs finally awakened, using a 20-6 run to close to 91-88 with 2:51 left on Zydrunas Ilgauskas' pair of free throws. But Durant, who'd been scoreless in the fourth quarter, scored four straight and Kurt Thomas' driving left-handed layup pushed the lead back to 97-88 with 1:35 left.

That seemed enough of a cushion, but Daniel Gibson's 3-pointer and Larry Hughes' layup off Earl Watson's bad turnover pulled the Cavs back within 99-95 with 37 seconds left. Luke Ridnour's shot in the lane was blocked by Dwayne Jones, but Gibson was called for an offensive foul at the other end on his driving layup. Ridnour then hit two free throws with 7.8 seconds left.

Hughes scored 28 points and Ilgauskas added 17. The Cavs now return home for four of the next seven games before the All-Star Break.

James' memorable fourth quarter in Portland likely cost him a chance to play in Seattle, disappointing the large number of fans who showed up in his various No. 23 jerseys.

James tested the ankle about 90 minutes before the game, and after shooting, walked back to the locker room with a slight limp, removed the tape from around his ankle and called it a night.

James joined an injury list that includes forward Anderson Varejao, who was hurt Sunday in a victory over the Lakers, and starting guard Sasha Pavlovic.

Varejao is expected to miss up to four weeks with a left ankle sprain, and Pavlovic is out six weeks with a left mid-foot sprain.

All three could have helped Cleveland, although Seattle did its best to jump on the weary Cavs, finishing up a brief three-game West Coast swing. The Sonics' 40 first-quarter points was the highest scoring quarter of the season for Seattle. Both Wilcox and Durant were in double figures by the end of the first, taking advantage of Cleveland's listless start.

Wilcox finished with 18 points and 13 rebounds, and rookie Jeff Green made all eight shots and scored 17 points. Seattle won consecutive games for the first time since mid-December.

Damon Jones added 15 points off the bench for Cleveland, all on 3-pointers.

Notes: Cavs' reserve Donyell Marshall had his teammates rolling late in the first quarter when he accidentally took off both his warm-up shirt and jersey entering the game. The entire Cavs bench broke out in hysterics. ... Cavs' coach Mike Brown was disappointed Ilgauskas wasn't selected for the All-Star game. "I thought he would get a real good opportunity to go play in the game, but they vote how they vote." ... Seattle outscored Cleveland 44-20 in the paint.