(My Sportsbook) - The Seattle SuperSonics just won't go away.

The team has won four of its last five games to pump some life into its playoff hopes. At 33-36, Seattle currently sits 3 1/2 games behind the Houston Rockets for the eighth and final postseason spot in the Western Conference.

The Sonics are coming off an immensely important 82-73 victory in Phoenix on Monday. The Suns had been tied with Houston in the standings prior to the contest.

"This is a real big win because of where we are and the teams we are fighting with," Seattle forward Rashard Lewis said.

Lewis poured in 29 points -- 25 in the second half -- on 12-of-16 shooting and Ray Allen added 23 points for the Sonics. Reggie Evans pulled down 13 boards for Seattle, which outrebounded Phoenix 50-36.

Despite shooting just 26 percent from the field in the first half, Seattle trailed by two heading into the third quarter, then took control of the game with an 18-3 run to open the frame. Lewis had 13 points during the spurt, which gave the Sonics a 53-40 advantage with around seven minutes to play in the stanza.

"We were executing the play the coaches were running for us," said Lewis. "We executed to a 'T,' and that got us easy baskets."

Phoenix battled back to pull within one at 64-63 three minutes into in the fourth. However, Seattle responded by scoring seven straight and grabbed a 71-63 advantage on another important Lewis bucket midway through the quarter.

The Suns only managed to get within four the rest of the way.

"We played like a team is supposed to play," Allen said. "We were physical and made big shots down the stretch."

Seattle won despite shooting 36.8 percent from the floor. Phoenix, meanwhile, hit 40.5 percent of its shots, but was just 3-of-17 from behind the arc.

Lewis has upped his production recently to help Seattle in its playoff push, but it may be too little too late. Over the last seven games, Lewis has quietly averaged 23.0 points while leading the team in scoring in five of those contests.

Lewis, in his fifth NBA season, is averaging a career-best 18.0 points overall this season. However, his rebounds have dropped from 7.1 per game in 2001-02 to 6.6 this season.

The Sonics begin a three-game homestand Wednesday with a matchup against the Washington Wizards. Seattle plays five of its next seven games at KeyArena.