SCORING DROUGHT --- The Supes haven't scored since the 5:54 mark. They lead 91-86.

UH-OH --- Carlesimo is showing tremendous resolve and patience in the reserves who blew a 20-point lead. The Sonics lead by just 12 (89-77), however, Carlesimo has made no moves to put in a starter.

SONICS LEAD 85-68 --- Durant and Wilcox each have 18 points. Green exploded for eight points in the third and he's got 17. Thomas has 12. Hughes leads everybody with 22 points, but he's out of the game now and doesn't look like he's going to return. In fact, I'd be surprised if the Sonics starters reutrn as well. This is a good chance to get West, Petro, Ridnor and Wilkins some minutes.

GAME OVER --- Gooden's body language suggest he's lost interest in this game. He's barely watching from the bench, which is indicative of many of the Cavs.

FIRST-HALF NUMBERS --- Balanced scoring for Seattle which had four players with at least nine points. Durant and Wilcox lead everybody with 12, Thomas 10 and Green 9. Hughes has 9 for Cleveland.

A NEW STREAK? --- Unless there's a total collapse, the Sonics look as if they're going to their second straight game. They've had 2-game winning streaks three other times this season, which is a bit surprising considering they had just 10 wins before tonight.

BEST FIRST QUARTER THIS SEASON --- Seattle leads 40-24. That's not a misprint. The 40 points is the most the Sonics have scored in any quarter this season. Keep this in mind, Seattle scored 88 points in thie previous game. Durant has 12 and Wilcox 10.

WHERE'S MY SHIRT? --- Check out Sportscenter tonight and you're sure to see a hilarious moment when Donyell Marshall tried to check into the game. The Cavs forward leaped off the bench and while removing his warmup shirt, he discarded his No. 24 jersey, which was thrown to the floor. For a second, Marshall had no idea that he was wearing just a black tanktop until the referee pointed it out to him. After fishing through the warmup Marshall found his jersey, but was given a delay of game penalty. Everyone in the crowd and on the Cleveland bunch was cracking up.

JAMES WALKS OUT --- I wonder if James will get the Tom Brady treatment regarding his ankle. He just walked out and he's wearing dress shoes. No walking boot or anything like that. A few fans cheered, but James hardly acknowledged them. He's sitting on the bench wearing blue jeans, a tan shirt and brown blazer.

JAMES' VALUE --- The Sonics lead 28-13 and the Cavs are proving just how valuable LeBron really is. Cleveland looks out of synce. Hughes is firing away from the outside, but there's no one else putting up consistent offense. Before tonight, my MVP vote was Kevin Garnett, Kobe Bryant, LeBron James and Chris Paul in that order. Now I'm inclined to move LeBron up to second.

FACES IN THE CROWD --- Pearl Jam's Jeff Ament and Mariners broadcaster Dave Henderson are in the building.

FAST START --- Wilcox has scored all the Sonics points and Seattle is leading 10-4. Watson found him for a nice pass on a fastbreak, but it's looking like Wilcox is just too quick for Gooden.

PRE-GAME NOTES

--- Again, no Lebron James tonight, which stunned many fans as they walked through the building. Even die-hard Sonics fans were bummed that the All-Star guard isn't playing. Said one fan: "I should have went to the Husky game."

--- The Sonics were expecting about 14,000-15,000 tonight. Not sure if that many will show up.

--- Coach PJ Carlesimo and the Sonics were expecting James to play and didn't talk at all about facing a Cavs team without the NBA's leading scorer.

--- The Sonics won't have Wally Szczerbiak and will give his minutes to Damien Wilkins and Delonte West. Wilkins is returning from a one-game departure due to the flu.

STARTING LINEUPS

CLEVELAND
F -- Ira Newble
F -- Dwight Gooden
C -- Zydrunas Ilgauskas
G -- Devin Brown
G -- Larry Hughes

SONICS
F -- Jeff Green
F -- Chris Wilcox
C -- Kurt Thomas
G -- Kevin Durant
G -- Earl Watson

Officials: Tom Washington, Sean Corbin and Jason Phillips