Bargnani's 4-Spot

TEAM.............W...........L...........GB

Portland......... 26..........36.........—

Seattle........... 25..........38......... 1 1/2

The NBA has been around for more than 50 years now. At roughly 1,000 games a year, that's more than 50,000 basketball games, and I doubt that there have been more than 3 occurrences of a made 4-point play giving a team a 2-point lead with fewer than 30 seconds remaining.

And yet, that's what happened to the Sonics on Sunday. Ray Allen bailed Seattle out by hitting a clutch shot off his own miss with a couple of ticks on the clock - propelling the game to OT, where the Sonics, naturally, blew it - but to me, that Bargnani 3 plus the penalty was the difference.

In a way, the game was like an NCAA tournament game. Allen and Bosh trading shots, Allen hitting an off-balance 3 in the corner while on the move and seemingly falling out of bounds, Bosh going behind the back on one end and then hustling down to block Earl Watson's shot on the other ... the whole game was just nuts.

But it wasn't all bad news for this Sonic fan this weekend. Yes, it rained so much in Vancouver that Noah was seen readying an ark, and yes, the Sonics got swept by Boston and Toronto, but the Ducks took it to the Trojans in LA, won themselves a Pac-10 Tourney thanks to Bryce Taylor's unbelievable 11-for-11 performance.

Coupled with some losses in other tourneys, the Ducks were booted all the way up to a #3 seed in the Midwest, and will play their first two (let's not rush things, Pete, calm down), in Spokane, a mere 6 1/2 hours away from Vancouver. I'll miss the first game on Friday, but should the Fighting Waterfowl prevail, you can bet your Orlando Williams' commemorative jersey I'll be there on Sunday, where the Ducks' opponent could be the hated Notre Fighting Irish. Don't know about the rest of you, but in a fight I'll take a Duck over an Irishman any day of the week.

Ouch

TEAM.................W...........L...........GB
Portland............... 25..........36.........—
Seattle............... 25..........37......... 1/2

Brutal loss to the C's in Boston. A 16-point first half lead goes up in smoke, and the Sonics wind up losing by 15 to a team that is so committed to the Oden sweepstakes it's a joke.

The Fortson saga captured some headlines, but I doubt anyone on the team is actually affected by it, considering the Big Buffoon hasn't played since January 5, and barely played before then.

The only thing to take away from this game is Rashard Lewis' frustration. Oh, and that the Celtics shot 59% from the field. Players not named Paul Pierce shot 64%, and that's just horrific.

Seattle crosses the border into Toronto for yet another dismal late-season game. It's unknown at press time if Sonic management will boycott the game in protest of Canada's love of same-sex marriages. Stay tuned.

New Standings

After tonight’s clash of the titans with the Celtics, the Sonics will have 20 games remaining on the schedule. That’s 20 games to determine at which draft position they will select the 7’ teenaged center from Chad who best fits their roster.

(Seriously, are there any doubts the Sonics will go for anyone but Tiago Splitter with their first pick? He’s 7 feet tall, has loads of potential, and will probably take a couple of years to develop. Perfect.)

But what else do the Sonics have to play for? The playoffs? Um, yeah, that boat sailed in November, folks. If Vegas listed odds on the Sonics making the playoffs, I’d guess it would be somewhere between “Odds of Pussycat Dolls Disbanding in 18 Months” and “Odds of Bob Hill Coaching Seattle in ’08.”

To me, only one remotely interesting part of the season remains: Beating the Blazers.

Starting tonight, the standings as the rest of the NBA sees them cease to exist. Henceforth, the standings look like:

TEAM.................W...........L...........GB
Seattle..................25..........36.........—
Portland............... 25..........36.........—

When you’ve fallen as far as the Sonics, this is what it comes to. We have no shot at the playoffs and no shot at getting anyone in the draft that will make a difference. A new GM and coach will be brought in this summer, who will likely be hamstrung by our current roster of mediocrity.

And that is why, for James Bailey, for Tom LaGarde, for Gus Williams, for Eddie Johnson, for Dana Barros, for all that is right with the world, and for all the greatness in Sonic history, the Sonics must prevail. To stand up to Jerome Kersey and Portland’s ridiculous “Hustle Board,” Clyde Drexler’s line-drive jump shots, Terry Porter’s absurd bullet head, the annoying Danny Ainge, Adelman’s Hitlerian mustache, Bill Walton’s horrible announcing, against all that is wrong in this world, we must triumph.

20 games. One winner. Go Sonics.