NO GO: The ball went to KD with Wallace guarding him. The rookie turned around to attempt an awkward three and missed at the hoop. Ridnour hit a layin at the buzzer after a made free throw at the other end, but the Sonics lose 96-93.

LOOKING FOR THREE: The Sonics are down 94-91 with 9.6 remaining in the game. They'll have to hit a three in order to hope to win in overtime. Only Wilkins, Ridnour and Marshall have hit from voutside tonight.

ON YOUR FEET: Everyone is standing waiting to see what's going to happen in the final 47 seconds. Well, Watson just turned the ball over and trails by one point. There's 10 seconds on the clock and the Bobcats just called a 20 second timeout.

TAKE THAT: Marshall is taking a stance in this game, hitting a three-pointer to give the Sonics a 87-86 lead and then on the immediate defensive possession, blocking Okafor's shot to get a jump ball call. Folks are on their feet screaming for free T-shirts and celebrating the defensive pressure -- a fav in these parts.

PETRO'S FIFTH: Carlesimo warned of foul trouble causing the most problems as the Sonics finish the season without Wilcox. Petro already has five and the Sonics could use his play inside. But Marshall is playing well, posting seven points and six boards in 20 minutes. He just replaced Petro in the lineup and the Supes are down 83-80.

THOSE THREES: J-Rich and Wallace just hit three-pointers to take back the game, 82-79. There's 9:16 remaining in the matchup.

ADDING VOLTAGE: Watson has got the Sonics rolling in the second half, hitting a diving layin at the third-quarter buzzer to give the Sonics a 76-72 lead. The Supes' reserves are outscoring the Bobcats bench 26-8 and Watson is at the helm of the action. Green and KD are also contributing.

HALFTIME: The Sonics shot 53.8 percent in the opening half, but the Bobcats are having their way inside (28-18) and lead 55-53 at the break. J-Rich (16), Felton (14), and Okafor (13) are leading the way. The Sonics held the Bobcats to 17 points in the second quarter to get back into the game.

GREEN LIGHT: Green just gave the Sonics the lead, 46-44, on a steal and fast break layin. There's 4:37 remaining before the half and the Bobcats have gone cold with increased Sonics defensive pressure by Donyell Marshall, Nick Collison and Green inside. Damien Wilkins and Luke Ridnour are the backcourt.

DUNK-O-LICIOUS: Bobcats F Gerald Wallace came flying in Vince Carter style to literally dunk on Sonics F Francisco Elson. Even the sparse hometown crowd had to give it up for Wallace. The Bobcats lead 42-32, taking advantage of another lax night in Sonics defense.

SWOOPING IN: Storm F Sheryl Swoopes is watching the game. She's going to run a basketball clinic with Green on Saturday at 2:30 p.m. at Alderwood Boys & Girls Club in Lynnwood. Swoopes turned 37 on Tuesday.

LOSING AIR: Not only are opponents sucking the life out of KeyArena by winning, they've apparently started taking the Sonics blimp's helium with them. At least Washington did on Wednesday. According to security near the blimp backstage, the Wizards players screwed off the cap of the helium tank, took a swig and went around cracking each other up with phrases like, "I'll [expletive] you up boy!" Funny when you picture a 6-foot-10 dude with a small voice - kind of like Mike Tyson. Word is Gilbert Arenas and the coaching staff was rolling with everyone else as they waited for the team bus to arrive.

WILCOX OUT: F Chris Wilcox was told it would take about six weeks to naturally heal his dislocated right pinkie. Wilcox said he'll still travel with his teammates for moral support and added that if the team wasn't out of contention, he might have went ahead and tried to play like Kobe. Sonics coach P.J. Carlesimo said the team should be fine for the remaining 10 games (Wilcox has already missed four). The coach is going to use Wilcox's absence to find more playing time for Mo Sene, too.

Here are tonight's starters

Sonics
F Jeff Green
F Nick Collison
C Johan Petro
G Kevin Durant
G Earl Watson

Bobcats
F Gerald Wallace
F Jared Dudley
C Emeka Okafor
G Jason Richardson
G Raymond Felton

Tonight's officials are Tom Washington, Leroy Richardson, and Leon Wood.