UNINSPIRED EFFORT --- With the exception of a 29-point second quarter, the Sonics showed little fight in their 108-86 defeat.

NO RIDNOUR --- Luke Ridnour is sitting at the end of the bench and has not played one minute. He's still not 100 percent and has sorness in left quad, but he played 10 minutes in the previous game and seemed fine this morning.

LOSING GROUND --- The Supes were outscored by three points in the third as Washington takes an 84-71 lead into the fourth quarter.Collison had a good period, scoring nine points, but Butler and Jamison are making life miserable for the Sonics. They've got 24 and 17 points respectively.

HALFTIME --- Sonics trail 52-46 after falling behind by 14 in the first quarter. Nice comeback. Szczerbiak did most of the work scoring all 13 of his points in the second period. The defense was much better also.

GREEN SHOWS OFF --- With his mom and family looking down from a suite behind the Sonics bench, the rookie forward drove baseline and flushed a two-hand jam. The dunk drew a loud applause from the dozens of fans wearing green Sonics t-shirts with the "Green 22" silkscreened on the front.

WALLY TO THE RESCUE --- If not for Szczerbiak's 13 points, the Sonics would be lost. They've trimmed thir deficit to 45-42 thanks to the sharp shooter. Everyone else still looks like they're sleepwalking. Szczerbiak is aggressive offensively knocking down 4 of 8 shots.

WAKE UP PEOPLE! --- Slow start for the Sonics who trail 31-17. They've been in DC since Friday, but they look like a team that believes its 10 a.m. on the West Coast. They're shooting 29.2 percent (7 of 24) and they've committed six turnovers.

PROPOGANDA WORKS --- Normally I'm not swayed by a PR campaigns, but the Wizards are pushing Jamison and Butler for the All-Star game and it's pretty effective. I had no idea these two were balling like they are. Jamison and Butler is third among Eastern Conference forwards in scoring at 21.8 ppg. Jamison is first in rebounding and doubles among EC forwards and Butler is third in assists and first in steals.

Not bad numbers. Not sure if they'll convince the fans though. Jamison isn't among the top 10 in fan voting for the All-Star game, while Butler is sixth. Surprisingly, Milwaukee rookie Yi Jianlian is fifth.

STARTING LINEUPS
SONICS
F - Jeff Green
F - Nick Collison
C - Kurt Thomas
G - Kevin Durant
G - Earl Watson

WASHINGTON
F - Caron Butler
F - Antawn Jamison
C - Brendan Haywood
G - DeShawn Stevenson
G - Antonio Daniels

OFFICIALS
Joe DeRosa, Eric Lewis and Rodney Mott