SONICS REIGNING IN SEATTLE.

Byline: Rich Hammond Staff Writer

It seems the clouds have lifted in Seattle.

Well, not literally. After all, it's still Seattle, where raindrops and coffee reign, but these days the city's residents have something else to perk them up: the stunning play of their SuperSonics.

The Sonics, one of the NBA's most consistently successful teams in the 1990s, have rallied from two terrible seasons and emerged as a powerhouse in the Western Conference with a 19-5 record and a substantial lead over Minnesota and Portland in the Northwest Division.

A record that good is remarkable for any team, but consider that these Sonics were set up to fail. They entered the season with a lame-duck coach and a roster full of players who were either inexperienced or on the verge of free agency. From that, the Sonics have emerged as a powerhouse.

Much of the credit should go to coach Nate McMillan, who many pundits believed would be out of a job by this point. McMillan has proved that coaching and playing style can still trump talent in the NBA.

McMillan is in the final year of his contract, but the Sonics might be regretting their decision to not hold contract negotiations with him until the end of the season. In his fourth year, McMillan finally has the type of team he's been looking for, and he has infused it with a sense of purpose.

Every night, the Sonics attempt to take the best parts of the defense-first Detroit Pistons and the shoot-first-think-later Sacramento Kings, and fuse them into a winning combination.

Every Seattle player, from fleet point guard Luke Ridnour to bruising power forward Danny Fortson, pressures the ball on defense. That creates more opportunities for the Sonics' offense, which is predicated on lots of motion and guard penetration. The Sonics took 84 shots in a recent game against Dallas.

Ray Allen and Rashard Lewis remain the top scoring threats, but the key to the turnaround of this team, which went 37-45 last year, has been Ridnour, a second-year player out of Oregon.

The Sonics took some heat for cutting loose point guard Brent Barry, but McMillan knew what he was doing. Ridnour was inconsistent last year, but McMillan saw that Ridnour had the potential to be the point guard he was looking for, one who could penetrate and distribute the ball effectively.

Barry is a natural shooting guard, more comfortable on the perimeter, but was forced into the point-guard role out of necessity. Seattle is much better off now. Ridnour averages 6.1 assists, and the Sonics have four players who average between 12 and 24 points.

Give credit also to general manager Rick Sund for bringing in forwards Nick Collison and Danny Fortson, two moves that barely caused a ripple in the offseason but have paid off quite well.

Collison and Fortson have become reliable bench players who can come in and wear down opponents in the post, muck things up down low and open things up even more for the Sonics' talented backcourt.

Now, here's the bad news. The Sonics haven't won anything yet, and teams that they are most compared to, Dallas and Sacramento, haven't enjoyed much playoff success recently. Plus, it seems inevitable the Timberwolves will start to play better at some point and the Sonics will go through a tough stretch.

Eight Sonics, most notably leading scorer Allen, are up for free agency after this season, and team owner Robert Schultz isn't exactly known for his free-spending ways.

There's also the matter of McMillan's contract. The NBA coaching carousel will be spinning again next summer, and if the Sonics keep winning, McMillan could ride off to another town.

Plus there's this: the Sonics lost to the Clippers by 30 points on opening night. Will the Sonics' bubble, like so many of those Pacific Northwest rain clouds, burst?

--Taking action: There has been plenty of talk in the aftermath of the Detroit-Indiana brawl, but Pistons coach Larry Brown has actually done something. Brown has not permitted his 9-year-old son L.J. to resume his role as the team's ballboy, or even attend a game, since the brawl.

The incident shook Brown so much that he said he considered leaving the team. He didn't, obviously, but what a great statement that would have been, coming from one of the league's most respected coaches.

--On the rise: Don't look now, but the hapless Cleveland Cavaliers are in first place in the Central Division, and they might soon be getting even better.

Rumors swirled this week that the Cavaliers might trade for Milwaukee guard Michael Redd, a move that would make them legitimate contenders to go deep into the playoffs.

Redd might be the final piece to the Cavaliers' puzzle. LeBron James has been outstanding, and he's getting better all the time. Center Zydrunas Ilgauskas is healthy and productive and Drew Gooden has emerged as a double-double threat. Imagine if they had a shooter of Redd's caliber as well.

--Bullish month: Is there actually reason for some optimism in Chicago? It looks as though the Bulls might hold on to Eddy Curry, and some of their other youngsters are doing well.

The Bulls take a five-game winning streak into today's game against Milwaukee, and the improved play of rookie guard Ben Gordon is a major reason for their stunning resurgence.

Gordon, who helped Connecticut to a national title this year, started slow. He averaged 10.6 points per game in November but made only 35.6 percent of his shots from the field.

December has been much kinder to Gordon, who has shot 50 percent this month. On Monday against Portland, Gordon made 10 of 15 shots from the field for 23 points, and two nights later, in a road game against the defending champion Pistons, Gordon scored 19 and made seven of 11 shots.

--On fire: With Thursday's victory, Phoenix became the first team in NBA history to have a 10-game winning streak following a 50-loss season.

OFF THE GLASS

RENT, DON'T BUY

It's the Tyronn Lue World Tour, coming soon to a NBA city near you. Remember Lue, the skinny point guard who earned his 15 minutes of fame with the Lakers for his defense on Allen Iverson in the NBA Finals? He was traded to Atlanta on Thursday, meaning he will be playing for his fifth team in seven seasons.

HONEYMOON PERIOD 

Sure, Vince Carter is all smiles now. He's thrilled to be out of Toronto, and he and New Jersey owner Bruce Ratner spoke glowingly of each other this week, but what happens if Jason Kidd leaves town, or if Ratner continues to gut the roster? Ratner seems focused on making the team profitable before he moves it to Brooklyn in 2007, and Carter's arrival hasn't done anything to calm the Kidd trade rumors. Carter could wind up being disgruntled again before too long.

IT'S FANTASTIC?

This week, the NBA is testing the theory that there is no such thing as bad publicity. Every media outlet in America has been overrun with stories about the Kobe-Shaq feud and an arbitrator's decision to reduce Jermaine O'Neal's suspension by 10 games. Few people seem to be talking about the actual games - how about those Phoenix Suns, anyway? - but then again, the NBA is getting much more attention than it usually does in late December, which must make commissioner David Stern smile a bit.

- Rich Hammond

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(1) OFF THE GLASS (see text)

(2) Daily News/CBS 2/KCAL 9 SPORTS CENTRAL POWER RANKINGS - Ross Siler