The Seattle SuperSonics are in the Western Conference playoffs again after being in the lottery for the last two seasons.

The Sonics clinched a playoff berth Tuesday night with a hard fought 102-99 victory over the Memphis Grizzlies. They were led by Ray Allen and Jerome James with 22 points each, James' a career high. James picked up the scoring usually provided by Rashard Lewis who was out with a injury to his right foot.

``This is a big win to come on the road and have some guys down and find a way to win like that is pretty impressive for our team,'' said Seattle guard Luke Ridnour. ``It feels good to make sure we're in the playoffs.''

``We won a game that a lot of people didn't think we could win,'' said Seattle coach Nate McMillan.

Danny Fortson (sprained left ankle) did not travel with the team.  He will miss tonight's game at Memphis and tomorrow night's game at San Antonio.

It might be the end of March, but going into Saturday night's game versus the Memphis Grizzlies, the New Orleans Hornets had yet to win a single game versus a division foe.  The Hornets got the victory, beating the Grizzlies 96-85.

``It's good to get that monkey off our back,'' said forward P.J. Brown. ``We finally got that done. We should have gotten it done a long time ago.''

J.R. Smith scored a career-high 33 points for the Hornets.

``Fortunately, we were on tonight, and ended up beating a pretty good team,'' Smith said.

The Memphis Grizzlies owner Michael Heisley has revealed that he is in negotiations to sell a minority share of the team to a local entity in the near future.  Heisley currently owns 70 percent of the team.

"I haven't made any secret of that," Heisley said. "I have always hoped to make this more of a Memphis operation."
"We've had two significant acquisitions that have nearly doubled the size of the company," he said. "Besides that, the team is in good hands. From an operational standpoint, it's running better than it ever has."

Lorenzen Wright and Jason Williams each scored 20 points and the Memphis Grizzlies shot 70 percent to end the New Jersey Nets' five-game winning streak with a 105-96 victory Thursday night.

James Posey added 12, Bonzi Wells had 11 and Earl Watson and Pau Gasol each had 10 as Memphis continued their hot streak, winning for the ninth time in 12 games.

Vince Carter led the Nets with 22, Nenad Krstic had 21 and Rodney Buford 15. Jason Kidd had 12 points and 12 assists.

It came so quickly, nobody knew quite what to say.  Following a Memphis 8-0 run in which the Grizzlies put together 8 points in just 45 seconds, Phoenix quarterback Steve Nash screamed, kicked a bench chair, threw the chair and harshly addressed his fellow teammates during a subsequent timeout.

"That was for two months of not really playing defense," Nash said. "It's from being on a team before that won a ton of games, had lots of offensive talent and did not have the quickness and athleticism this team has and the ability to guard. I know where we're headed if we don't play 'D.' I've been there. I've been trying not to overdo it this year and say too much. We're a young team and they don't know where I am coming from if I say that over and over."

Just two days after an embarassing loss at home versus the Warriors, the Suns bounced back on the road at Memphis, beating the Grizzlies 97-91.

Joe Johnson scored 28 points, while MVP candidate Steve Nash had 13 assists.

Duke alum Shane Battier led the Grizzlies with 20 points.  Pau Gasol was 1-4 from the field in limited action.

The Suns improved their record to 49-16, gaining a game on the Spurs who were defeated by the Pistons.

The Memphis Grizzlies activated guard Bonzi Wells for Friday night?s game versus the Minnesota Timberwolves.

Wells missed 7 games with a herniated disc.

Dahntay Jones goes to the injured list with a tendonitis in his left quadriceps.

The Grizzlies beat the Timberwolves by a final score of 88-83, dropping KG's squad to 2-1/2 games back of the Nuggets for the final spot in the Western Conference.

Bonzi Wells, ever the statesman, is reflecting his past and his old team, the Portland Trailblazers.

"You think about it, and it's been tough on them since they traded me, Jeff (McInnis) and Rasheed (Wallace)," said Wells, who is on the injured list with a slightly herniated disc in his back. "It's ridiculous. The next three or four years are going to be bad. Rebuilding in the NBA is tough."

In ?I-told-you-so-fashion? Mr. Wells continued to make farily observations doused in spite toward his former team.
"They've still got good players," he said. "But they traded away their best players, and now their chemistry is messed up.

"I think Cheeks leaving was unfortunate. If they were going to fire Cheeks, I thought they would do it at the end of the year. Being in the last year of his contract, I thought he'd at least finish the season. It's tough to go through rebuilding, but they traded all of their best players away.

As Bonzi rides the bench in Memphis, nursing his injured back, he can?t help but relive the ?glory years.?

"It's terrible," he said. "I look at the games every now and then to check up on my guys, and it's night and day compared to the way it used to be."

A controversial Mike Bibby bank shot buzzer-beater gave the Sacramento Kings an 85-82 victory over the Memphis Grizzlies.

James Posey tipped Peja Stojakovic's inbounds pass into the air, but the 1.4 seconds on the clock didn't start to disappear until Mike Bibby grabbed the loose ball.

``Yeah, (the inbounds pass) was hit, but that's how it goes sometimes,'' said Bibby, who scored 26 points. ``We gave them a run, and we couldn't score for a little bit, but they kept coming back.''

``They did not start the clock, and the ball was deflected,'' Mike Fratello said. ``Therefore, (regulation) should have been over, and we should be in overtime right now playing. But because they do not have the power to correct an incorrect decision, we have a team with a loss right now that still should be playing."