SuperSonics 95, Knicks 87

New York committed 23 turnovers Wednesday night, and Vladimir Radmanovic found his shooting stroke to score 21 points in a 95-87 victory.

Seattle scored 34 points off turnovers.

``We beat ourselves,'' coach Don Chaney said. ``You can't just continue to throw the ball away and expect to win games, especially on the road.''

After going 12-of-46 from the field over the previous three games, Radmanovic was 8-of-14 -- including five 3-pointers.

``I shot the ball really bad against the Rockets,'' Radmanovic said of his previous game. ``I didn't want to have another bad game. I just came out ready, and I made some shots.''

The Sonics worked hard to score on the inside, having their most success when Dikembe Mutombo was sitting on the bench in foul trouble during much of the first three quarters. When they failed inside, Seattle went outside and went 9-of-16 from beyond the arc.

``They kept kicking it out, and then they hit all their shots,'' said New York's Howard Eisley. ``They got hot from the outside. All their shots seemed to fall.''

Rashard Lewis had 13 points and 13 rebounds. Brent Barry scored 13, and Luke Ridnour scored 10 of his career-high 15 points in the fourth quarter as the Sonics won their second straight game.

``That guy is a very confident young guy,'' Sonics coach Nate McMillan said of Ridnour, who also added seven assists and five offensive rebounds. ``He doesn't get rattled.''

New York pulled to 81-75 on a free throw by Houston with 5:01 to play, but Brent Barry hit a 3-pointer and Ridnour's 16-footer pushed the lead to 11. The Sonics coasted the remainder of the way.

The Knicks were led by 24 points from Houston, 12 in the fourth quarter. Keith Van Horn had 18, and Charlie Ward came off the bench to score 15.

Chaney didn't like his team was settling for outside shots despite their size advantage over the run-and-gun Sonics.

``We took a lot of jumpers, and they were wide open. But when you're not hitting from the outside you have to take the ball to the rack, even on the fast break,'' Chaney said.

Antonio McDyess, playing in his second game since fracturing his kneecap on Oct 12, 2002, struggled in the first half but appeared to find some rhythm to his game in the second half. He finished with seven points and six rebounds in 19 minutes.

The Knicks, 3-7 on the road, still have four more games on their trip.

Houston agreed with his coach's comments about the sloppy play on offense.

``It's a matter of being more conscious and more focused. What else can you do? There's no stickum or anything like that. You just have to take care of the ball.''

Ward's 3-pointer with 7:55 to play in the second quarter gave New York a 40-35 lead, but Seattle responded with a 13-0 run that included some surprising offense from Vitaly Potapenko as he scored on three straight possessions. Those six points matched his season high. He finished with eight.

``Vitaly gave us a lift,'' McMillan said. ``He did a good job of clogging the middle and playing smart.''

The Knicks scored the final six points of the half to cut the Sonics' lead to 48-46. The final two were scored by Mutombo at the free throw line after Antonio Daniels was whistled for flagrantly fouling the Knicks' center in thepaint.

Notes:
The Sonics entered the game as the only team in the league with a winning record on the road (4-2) and a losing record in its own building (3-4). One of Seattle's ``home'' wins was one of the season-opening games in Japan where they were designated the home team. ... G Ray Allen will have his surgically repaired right ankle examined Thursday to determine when he can return to practice. ...The Knicks, the league's best free throw shooting team,hit their first 16 from the line.