The Weekend in Basketball

--The Sonics lost to the Clippers Sunday, 115-101. NBA.com has the highlights, which include a Durant facial on Chris Kaman.

Durant had a solid game, with 24 points on 10 of 19 shooting, but his defense continues to be a problem. Tim Thomas scored 20 for the Clips. I'm pretty sure Clay Bennett could hold Tim Thomas below 20. The Sonics were -14 points with Durant on the floor.

P.J. Carlesimo is annoyed with the large number of turnovers the Sonics are committing. Turnovers get a bad rap--they are often just a sign of aggressiveness, and for proof I point you to the fact that Steve Nash has committed more turnovers this year than anyone else in the NBA.

And you'd expect turnovers in Paul Westhead's up-tempo offense, but when I look at the WNBA stats, I see that his 2006-07 WNBA champ Phoenix Mercury committed the fewest turnovers in the league. So, well...huh.

Oh, and the Sonics said they are going to move, blah, blah. That will be for a judge to decide.

--Brandon Roy's 41 minutes of play Friday, and 34 minutes Saturday on an increasingly balky heel earned the Blazers two losses. They're 0-3 overall, their first 0-3 start in 20 years (though, in fairness, all three were road games).

Still, oughtn't they let him get the surgery he needs now, and oh (wink-wink) maybe not have such a great record this year? They could stand to draft a point guard, as starter Jarrett Jack had 2 points in 45 minutes over the weekend.

--Um, someone might want to advise the Seattle U sports information department that saying your team "hung tough" in a game in which they trailed 32-10 in the first half is, well, you'll see more honest reporting this week on Pakistani TV.

Not that I'm downplaying the effort of the Redhawks in their 82-63 exhibition loss to Kentucky, but calling "an early 6-3 lead" evidence of hanging tough is a little ridiculous. The Div II Redhawks did about as well as you'd expect, and Kentucky showed sportsmanship by playing mostly backups.

The Redhawks, who hope to go D1 by the 09-10 season, open their season for real on Friday, November 16th. Here's the schedule.

--Nate Robinson, who's scored in double figures in both Knicks games this year, may miss their third with a strained hamstring. Honestly, I didn't think he could get injured. According to a friend who was a UW gymnast while Robinson was on the basketball team, he never lifted weights or anything. His tank of a body, apparently, comes naturally.