NBA Notebook | Rush aggravates groin; Swift dazzles

RENTON — Sonics guard Kareem Rush aggravated the partial tear in his groin during warmups at the team's open practice at Hazen High School on Tuesday. He is listed as day to day.

Coach Bob Hill was eager to finally see the veteran play since Rush missed the opening two weeks of camp, including three exhibition games, because of the injury. But when Rush attempted to play through the pain, he pulled up limp and had to watch the sets of 12-minute scrimmages before a packed gym of high-school students.

Hill, who watched in the stands while his assistants coached, instead turned his focus to center Robert Swift, who dazzled the crowd with dunks and mid-range jumpers.

"Did you see Robert Swift?" Hill said. "I haven't seen him run the floor like that. He played with so much confidence. He defended, he rotated. I thought that was the best I've ever seen him play.

"If he can give us anything close to that, it's going to make a big difference in our team."

Swift is battling Johan Petro for the starting position and Hill is leaning toward starting Swift against Portland on Friday at KeyArena.

The 90-minute session was intended to be taken seriously, yet the players did joke with the rowdy students while seated on the sideline. The Sonics organized autographed giveaways, but the most popular items were used towels from players such as Ray Allen, Rashard Lewis and Chris Wilcox. Forward Nick Collison refused to oblige the begging fans, however.

"Why do you want a towel? There's sweat all over it," he told a teenaged boy. "That's nasty."

Notes

• Martell Webster, a former standout at Seattle Prep, had 25 points and former Husky Brandon Roy had 19 points and nine rebounds, but Portland fell to Golden State 124-120 in overtime.

• Jamal Crawford, a former Rainier Beach High star, scored 22 points and Eddy Curry powered his way to 19 as New York remained unbeaten in the preseason by beating Boston 116-108.

Quentin Richardson, getting more playing time in the absence of small forward Jared Jeffries, had 15 points, including seven in the final quarter. Jeffries, expected to be the starting small forward, is out six to eight weeks with a broken left wrist.

The Celtics played without All-Star Paul Pierce, who missed his first game of the preseason because of a strained left hip.

Former UW Husky Nate Robinson had nine points, five rebounds and three assists for the Knicks.

• New Jersey guard Marcus Williams, the team's top pick in the June draft, will be sidelined indefinitely with a sprained left wrist. Williams, the 22nd overall pick, was injured in practice.

• In Cleveland's 93-67 victory over Maccabi Tel Aviv, LeBron James nearly had a triple-double in just 30 minutes with 13 points, eight rebounds, eight assists and three blocks. The downside is he turned the ball over five times and now has 10 giveaways in three exhibition games.

• Charlotte rookie Adam Morrison, the former Gonzaga All-American, scored just four points on 2-of-11 shooting and also was hit with a technical foul in the third quarter of the Bobcats' 100-84 loss to Washington.

• Marvin Williams, a former star for Bremerton High and North Carolina, had nine points and six rebounds in Atlanta's 100-96 win over Orlando.

Seattle Times news services contributed to this report.