SEATTLE (AP) -- Seattle didn't have leading scorer Ray Allen. The

SuperSonics still had Rashard Lewis.

Lewis scored a season-high 45 points and the Sonics overcame

Allen's ejection for a 113-104 win over the Orlando Magic on

Wednesday night.

Lewis was outstanding, finishing 12-of-18 from the field and

17-of-20 from the free-throw line. It was his best game since

scoring 41 in an overtime win against Toronto in November, and

Seattle improved to 13-5 when Lewis scores 20 or more points.

"That's about as efficient as you can be in the NBA," said

Seattle coach Bob Hill, who picked up his second win since taking

over for Bob Weiss on Jan. 3. "Rashard did what players of his

caliber do."

In Seattle's 15 wins, Lewis is averaging 27 points, and he was

just five points off his career high of 50 set in 2003.

"It came across my mind," Lewis said. "But the main focus was

getting the win. We need as many wins as we can get right now."

Luke Ridnour picked up the slack in Allen's absence, making 9 of

16 shots and finished with a career-high 23 points, topping the

20-point mark for just the second time in his career.

The Sonics played much of the game without Allen, who was

ejected for fighting with Orlando's Keyon Dooling with 10:53 left

in the second quarter.

After Jameer Nelson missed for the Magic, Allen pulled down the

rebound and replays showed that he caught a glancing blow in the

chin from Dooling.

At the other end, the two collided as Seattle ran a set play and

Allen appeared to give Dooling a short elbow to the chest before

running along the baseline. Dooling went running at Allen and

pushed him to the ground. Allen got up and tackled Dooling into the

first row of seats along the sideline and onto some fans.

"You get in the heat of the battle and sometimes situations

aren't handled the way they should be," Dooling said. "I think

that was an example of that tonight."

The two briefly scuffled and television replays showed Dooling

throwing a punch at Allen that did not connect. The two were

eventually separated with Orlando's Stacey Augmon pulling Allen

away from Dooling.

Underneath the stands, Dooling briefly ran toward the Sonics

locker room and was seen yelling at Allen, but team officials and

police kept the two apart.

Allen was not available after the game and most of his teammates

deferred comment.

"Sometimes you don't think, you just react," Dooling said. "I

wish I could take it back. I feel bad for the fans that

participated in it and for the kids that had to see it."

Nelson led the Magic with a career-high 32 points off the bench.

Hedo Turkoglu added 16, but was no match for Lewis defensively, and

fouled out with 3:22 left.

"We didn't want to double team a lot because of their perimeter

shooting and Rashard was a tough matchup for us tonight," Orlando

coach Brian Hill said.

DeShawn Stevenson added 15 for Orlando, which dropped its sixth

straight road game.

Leading 56-47 at halftime, the Sonics closed the third quarter

on a 14-7 run to take an 18-point lead. Lewis scored 11 during the

spurt and had 33 points after three quarters.

"I knew I was going to have to be a lot more aggressive," said

Lewis. "If not getting myself shots, but getting my teammates open

shots. I knew I had to step up big."

Orlando trimmed the deficit to 94-85 on Nelson's three-point

play and a free throw from Dwight Howard with 6:45 left.

After exchanging misses, Nelson blocked Ridnour's shot, but Nick

Collison grabbed the ball out of midair and made a 14-footer as the

shot clock expired to put Seattle up 96-85 with 5:24 to play.

Ronald Murray then came up with a steal for Seattle, and Ridnour

made a 3-pointer as the shot clock expired with 4:48 left to put

Seattle up 14.

Vladimir Radmanovic added 17 for Seattle. Howard had 13 points

and 18 rebounds for Orlando.

Dooling was scoreless in three minutes of play, while Allen had

just one point in eight minutes.Game notes
Orlando forward Grant Hill sat out his third straight game

with a strained groin. Hill had a precautionary MRI taken on

Wednesday and is expected to try and practice on Thursday. ...

Seattle was without F Reggie Evans, who was excused from the team

to attend a funeral. He was expected to rejoin the team on

Thursday. ... Orlando has lost seven of its last eight in Seattle.