2-2 Chicago 107 Seattle 101

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Chicago 107 Seattle 101

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SEATTLE, Feb. 2 (AP) -- There were 208 points and 76 baskets. After all, this is the NBA.

Yet all anyone wanted to talk about afterward was defense.

Luol Deng had 27 points and 12 rebounds, Andres Nocioni supplied the pivotal scoring down the stretch and Kirk Hinrich wowed Seattle's Ray Allen with relentless defense that the Chicago Bears could use later this weekend in the Bulls' 107-101 victory over the struggling Seattle SuperSonics on Friday night.

"Our defense was disgusting for the most part in the first half. But we got a lot more active in the second half," Chicago coach Scott Skiles said after his team's fourth win in five games.

NBA

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SEATTLE -- Pick a hero, any hero.

There were plenty to choose from in the Bulls' 107-101 victory over Seattle at Key Arena on Friday night, just the team's second in nine road games against Western Conference teams.

Was it Andres Nocioni, who snapped a 97-97 tie with under two minutes to play with five straight points, including a three-point play on an aggressive drive?

Tribune

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SEATTLE -- It wasn't always pretty and probably was more of a struggle down the stretch than it needed to be, but road victories have come so infrequently for the Bulls this season -- particularly out West -- that they weren't about to apologize for a 107-101 victory over the Seattle SuperSonics on Friday night at Key Arena.

Luol Deng led the Bulls (27-20) with 27 points and 12 rebounds, and Kirk Hinrich had 20 points. The Bulls also got strong bench play from Chris Duhon, who emerged from his prolonged offensive slump and scored 16 points, and Andres Nocioni, who added 14.

Sun Times

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Rashard Lewis and Luke Ridnour have almost been like a comedy routine lately, toying around after practice in one-on-one games and having fun during media sessions.

In all honesty, however, Ridnour would prefer the goofing off to stop. The reserve point guard would rather have Lewis — the team's second-leading scorer at 21.5 points a game — in a Sonics uniform, toying with opponents so Seattle doesn't experience another fourth quarter like the one Friday in a 107-101 defeat to Chicago at KeyArena.

Times

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With Ray Allen's jump shot uncharacteristically off Friday night, and the remaining crew of perimeter players hesitant to shoot, the Sonics once again suffered.

This is nothing new. The Sonics lack a second scoring threat in the late minutes and no one stepped to the forefront when Allen missed shot after shot in the clutch against the Chicago Bulls at KeyArena.

The result was a fourth consecutive loss, 107-101, as Andres Nocioni scored five consecutive points during a 7-0 Chicago run and the Sonics went without a field goal for 3 minutes, 17 minutes down the stretch.

PI

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Good effort. Not-so-good finish.
That’s been the story for the Seattle SuperSonics the past four games — all losses. In that stretch, they have played well for long periods but couldn’t finish in the final minutes.

The latest example came Friday night against Chicago, the third-best team from the Eastern Conference escaping with a 107-101 victory at KeyArena in front of 16,291 disappointed onlookers.

Tacoma News Tribune