EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. (AP) -- By the time the Seattle SuperSonics

had improved the NBA's best record to 8-1, no more than 2,000

people remained in the arena.

Perhaps they were simply too stunned by the poor play to join

the 10,000 folks who had the good sense to leave early.

Seattle played its worst offensive game of the season Wednesday

night yet still won its eighth in a row, defeating the New Jersey

Nets 79-68 in a game with little, if any, aesthetic appeal.

"I thought it was one of the ugliest games that I've ever been

a part of," Seattle's Ray Allen said. "New Jersey just made us

play an ugly game. Richard (Jefferson) came up to me during the

game and said, 'Man this is an ugly game,' and I was saying we were

playing ugly, too. He said, `Yeah, but we made you guys play

ugly."

Despite starting the first half 0-for-10 and the second half

0-for-8, the Sonics scored on seven consecutive possessions down

the stretch against a Nets team that had more fouls (29) than field

goals (26) and committed 23 turnovers.

Rashard Lewis scored 17 points and Allen, Danny Fortson and

Vladimir Radmanovic added 14 each as Seattle improved to 2-0 on a

six-game, 10-day road trip.

"Coming in here back-to-back against New Jersey with no Jason

Kidd had letdown written all over it," Sonics coach Nate McMillan

said. "It was more of a gut check tonight."

Jefferson had 20 points, and Travis Best scored all 13 of his

points in the fourth quarter for the Nets as they lost their fourth

in a row.

Seattle began the night leading the NBA in 3-point accuracy and

ranked third in scoring, but those attributes were largely absent

against an opponent ranked last in the league in offense and first

in turnovers.

"Turnovers have pretty much been the story every game," Nets

center Alonzo Mourning said. "I'm part of the story. I accounted

for seven."

The Sonics also had nearly as many fouls (23) as field goals

(26).

Neither team reached 50 points until Lewis hit a 3-pointer with

1:24 left in the third quarter to make it 51-44. The Nets finally

got to the 50-point plateau 2½ minutes into the fourth, pulling to

55-50 on a layup by Jefferson.

Best single-handedly kept the Nets within striking distance by

making three straight baskets and a pair of foul shots midway

through the fourth quarter.

Jefferson's two free throws cut Seattle's lead to 64-60 with

3:13 left, but Lewis answered with a 3-pointer to begin the string

of seven consecutive possessions ending in scores.

"All night we weren't in any type of rhythm offensively, but

the main thing was we continued to play defense and keep the score

to where we had a chance to win at the end of the ballgame," Lewis

said.

One night after matching a team record with 18 3-pointers,

Seattle went 5-for-15 from behind the arc. The Nets were 0-for-7 on

3s.Game notes
Mourning and Fortson got rather physical with each other

during a stretch of the second quarter, with Fortson turning to

yell at Mourning after going to the bench with his third foul. "I

lost a lot of respect for him. I love the guy because he came back

from the kidney thing, but he was basically trying to get me in

trouble tonight," Fortson said of Mourning, who is making a

comeback after receiving a kidney transplant. ... Seattle is 4-0

vs. teams from the Eastern Conference. ... The Sonics won in New

Jersey for the first time in four years. ... Defended primarily by

Jefferson, Allen was held below 20 points for the first time this

season. ... The Nets have had point totals in the 60s three times

this season. They scored in the 60s four times in the entire

2003-04 season. ... Kidd, recovering from knee surgery, said he is

pain-free and expects to begin practicing in December.