The Kardiac Kids are back

You've heard of games that were never in doubt? This one was always in doubt: the lead changed hands seven times, there were seven ties, and with the Hornets up 98-94 with half a minute left, Seattle's Rashard Lewis fired a trey to cut the lead to one. The Bees ran down as much of the clock as they could, and Chris Paul dropped in a runner.

Which rolled out. Lewis grabbed the ball and called time out: the Sonics reset, and with less than one second left, Ray Allen sent up a jumper.

Which missed. Hornets 98, Sonics 97, and suddenly the Bees are a playoff team again, half a game above the ninth-place Warriors.

Let us not, however, mock Ray Allen, who led all scorers with 32, or Rashard Lewis, who scored 18 and pulled down 12 rebounds. The Sonics had plenty of offense, and they shot 52 percent from the floor (and 53 percent from beyond the arc).

By comparison, the Hornets shot only 37 percent. But they dominated the boards — 56 rebounds versus 42 — and 26 of them were off the offensive glass, meaning that a lot of those shots that were missed were put back. And the Bees committed only eight turnovers, while the Sonics turned the ball over 18 times; the Hornets blocked six shots and recorded a prodigious 13 steals. (Chris Paul had five; all the Sonics combined managed two.)

Two more double-doubles: David West (23 points, 11 rebounds) and Tyson Chandler (15 points, 19 rebounds). Bobby Jackson scored 17 off the bench. And Linton Johnson, in less than 17 minutes, got 8 points and 7 boards, a blocked shot and a steal.

A trip to Cleveland on Tuesday; the Hornets will be back at the Ford to take on the Hawks (Wednesday), and then will head to Chicago.

Posted at 9:37 PM to Net Proceeds