The NBA?s two best records both added a defeat to the win/loss column last night.  

Behind Allen Iverson?s 34 points (13 in the fourth quarter), the Sixers squeaked past the Seattle Supersonics 114-107 in the Key Arena.  With the loss, the division leading Sonics fell to 20-6 on the season.

Meanwhile, the San Antonio Spurs ended the Phoenix Suns? 11-game winning streak with an impressive 115-94 victory putting the Suns at 24-4 on the season.

"They're a championship-caliber team," Suns coach Mike D'Antoni said of the Spurs, "and we're climbing up the ladder. We know that. We're not disheartened by being 24-4 and coming back and understanding what we need to do."

The SuperSonics beat the Jazz in Utah for the first time since Feb. 1, 2000, winning Monday 98-88.

"To beat them here at home, mentally it is a challenge," Nate McMillan said. "I thought our guys kept their composure and played through the aggressive play. In the second half, I thought we got stronger."

The Sonics converted 25 Utah turnovers into 23 points.

Antonio Daniels missed Wednesday night's game against Denver with acute tonsillitis.

It was unclear whether Daniels would undergo surgery to have his tonsils removed or if he'd be available for Monday's game at Utah.

"He won't be here tonight and he won't be here tomorrow," Nate McMillan said. "We're going to have to figure out what that is."

Vince Carter may have got his wish and escaped the NBA's Canadian franchise, but is there more to Raptor's GM Rob Babcock's decision to pull the trigger than meets the eye?

According to Tacoma News Tribune writer Frank Hughes the Carter trade came less than 48 hours after Babcock was interviewed for a story about Carter?s actions against the Seattle SuperSonics Nov. 19.

Three Sonics players have alleged that Carter intentionally tipped off a play during the final minute of the Raptors? 101-94 loss to the Sonics in Toronto.

With 29 seconds remaining in that game and the Sonics leading 97-90, the Raptors called a timeout. After returning to the court, Carter lined up along the edge of the key. He was facing the Sonics? bench with his hands on his knees.

According to a member of the Sonics, before the play began, Carter said directly to the Seattle bench, ?It?s a flare. It?s a flare.? Two other members of the Sonics confirmed that Carter told the Sonics bench that the Raptors were running the flare play.

Inbounding the ball above the Sonics bench, the Raptors then immediately ran a flare play for Carter.

According to one member of the Sonics, the bench reacted immediately to what Carter said, with Sonics players saying, ?Did you hear that? Did you see that? That?s (expletive) up.?

Another member of the Sonics said he discussed the play with a coach after the game, and the coach said, ?If you ever do that, I?ll run you out of the league.?

Allen, who was guarding Carter, said: ?I didn?t hear it, but that?s what those other guys were saying (after the game), Reggie (Evans) and those other guys. But all I said was, ?Why would he do that?? I don?t know why he would do that.?

According to Hughes, when asked to detail the incident Evans chose not to discuss specifics.

?I don?t want to get involved in that stuff, man,? Evans said. ?That stuff is deep. I ain?t scared of Vince or nothing like that, but that is between him and his conscience. I ain?t saying it did happen or it didn?t happen. I?ll leave that for Ray. I?ll let Ray do all that type of talking, man.?

?For real. I?ll let Ray open his mouth, he is the one ... who got into it with Kobe (Bryant), so I will just leave that alone. I don?t want to get into no beef with nobody.?

Carter, reached through Raptors spokesman Jim LaBumbard, responded, ?I?m not going to comment on something as ridiculous as that.?

Babcock was reached on Wednesday evening and said: ?I hadn?t heard that. I would hope that would not be the case, but I am not aware of that. If he did do that, I would be quite upset with that. But I don?t know anything about that. It is nothing I heard.?

?That?s the type of thing that, if I was aware of it, we would deal with it internally, and we certainly would deal
with it. But I am not aware of that.?

?If something comes up to me like that, and it is solid, and it is obvious that it did happen, we would take care of it internally.?

In their seventh win in a row, the Phoenix Suns knocked off the Seattle Supersonics in their own home, The Key Arena.  Led by ?Don?t call me Shoeless? Joe Johnson?s 24 points and 10 rebounds, the Suns snuck away with a win in this 112-110 thriller.

"We held tough like we've been doing most of the year," Suns coach Mike D'Antoni said. "We made some stops at the end. It was a great, great game."

The Sonics were led by Ray Allen?s 32 points but it wasn?t quite enough to take down the NBA?s top team.

Key Arena was given a facelift less than 10 years ago and it has already become an 'outdated' venue.

The Seattle SuperSonics and Mayor Greg Nickels are likely to ask state lawmakers for more than $200 million to pay for a major renovation of KeyArena and pay down the debt from the building's 1995 remodel.

The plan favored by the Sonics and Nickels would retire KeyArena's $58 million debt while also paying for $180 million in improvements. Sonics Executive Vice President Terry McLaughlin said he would "love this process to begin in the next six months."

The Sonics' lease at KeyArena expires in 2010. McLaughlin said the team wants to stay there and would "keep trying to make it work until we find it can't."

Sonics GM Rick Sund is the architect of their 18-4 start and is chiefly responsible for the plan to play the season with seven pending free agents, and he has no qualms that the team decided to forgo a contract for him until after the season.

"I like short-term contracts for players, so why should I feel any different for myself?" Sund said. "For half of my career, I've been without a contract. When I was with Dallas, the guy said, 'Hey, Rick. Let's just do a handshake deal.' And I said fine.

"Probably if I were 29 or 30, I would probably be a little bit more concerned about security. But it's cool. It's OK with me."

Seattle's unexpected success hasn't altered the arrangement Sund made with CEO Wally Walker before the season. However, if the Sonics plan to retain Sund, they likely will resign him before the season ends because of time constraints regarding the trade deadline.

Behind Rashard Lewis? season high 37 points, the Seattle Supersonics trounced the Los Angeles Lakers giving them an 18-4 record on the season, their second best start ever.  

Lewis?  big performance offset the match up between feuding Ray Allen and Kobe Bryant which ended in a virtual draw with Kobe scoring 35 and Allen 26.  

The Sonics made 12 out of 27 3-pointers with Lewis accounting for 7 of those including a clutch 3 from the corner to bury the Lakers in the fourth quarter.

The Celtics beat the Sonics for the second time this season accounting for half of Seattle?s loses.  In both the victories, the Celtics have gone with a smaller lineup.  Five of the seven Celtics who scored nine or more points were 6 feet 7 or shorter.

"We match up well with them," guard Paul Pierce said. "They have guys that are versatile and can play a lot of positions and I think we are the same thing.

The Sonics outplayed the Celtics in many ways and the statistical categories back this up.  The Sonics attempted 13 more shots, had four more boards and had five fewer turnovers.  

When asked whether smaller lineups might be the key to toppling the top team in the NBA, Seattle Coach Nate McMillian said simply, "I don't think so, all teams can't do this. All teams can't put those types of players out there."

The Seattle Supersonics continued to tear through the state of Texas defeating the Dallas Mavericks 107-102.  This makes 4 wins in a row for Seattle, their last two being against two of the top two teams in the West, Texas powers San Antonio and Dallas.

Rashard Lewis continue his torrid shooting streak scoring 13 of his 25 points in the fourth quarter causing Ray Allen to say, "Rashard is playing like a man possessed."

The Sonics now move to a league leading 17-3 and have yet to show signs of letting up.