SEATTLE – Maybe Ray Allen would have helped.
Then again, maybe not.
Given how well the San Antonio Spurs are playing of late, and in particular how well they played on Monday night, a healthy Allen – home with the flu – might not have made much difference. A healthy Allen and a young Michael Jordan, maybe, but short of that the Sonics were simply no match for the mighty Spurs, who seem poised to bid for their third NBA title in the past seven seasons.
Behind the 23 points and seven assists of guard Manu Ginobli and the 21 points and 10 rebounds of forward Tim Duncan, San Antonio powered past the Sonics 103-84 before a KeyArena sellout gathering of 17,072.
“They’re a championship team for a reason,” said Seattle associate head coach Dwane Casey, filling in for absent head coach Nate McMillan. “We tried everything we could to take them out of their rhythm, but we couldn’t do it. They were hitting on all cylinders.”
The Spurs, perhaps still smarting from two early-season losses to the Sonics, did a terrific job of exposing Seattle’s weaknesses. Point guard Tony Parker thoroughly outplayed his Sonics counterpart Luke Ridnour, blowing past him time after time and making him look like the second-year youngster he is. Ginobli ran circles around Flip Murray, who started in place of Allen. Seattle bench stalwarts like Danny Fortson, Antonio Daniels and Vlade Radmanovic were scant factors against San Antonio’s talented nine-man rotation.
And with no Allen to worry about, the Spurs assigned defensive ace Bruce Bowen to Rashard Lewis, Seattle’s second-leading scorer, with double-team help always nearby. The result? Lewis was held to a mere nine points on 4-for-9 shooting from the field.
“We knew they were going to come ready to play because we beat them the first two games,” Lewis said. “I don’t want to make excuses, but we just didn’t play well. We didn’t shoot the ball well and we didn’t play together as a team like we have been.”
The Spurs “totally committed two people to Rashard all night,” Casey said. “They brought Duncan over every time Rashard caught the ball, whether it was on an isolation or a post-up, and they did a good job of just taking him out. We tried everything in the world to get him shots, but they committed two and sometimes three people to him.”
San Antonio could do that because there was no Allen on the court, keeping the defense honest. In his stead, Murray was a disappointing 5-for-17 from the field, missing one open shot after another and drawing boos by the end of the game.
“Ron, bless his heart, struggled,” Casey conceded. “But he hasn’t played much and it’s not fair to judge him by tonight’s game. He’s a much better player than that. It’s not his fault whatsoever that we lost this game.”
San Antonio toyed with the Sonics through the game’s early minutes, then finally broke on top to stay late in the opening quarter. Sparked by a brilliant second quarter from Ginobli, who had 12 of his team’s 23 points, and a smothering defense that held Seattle to just 34 first-half points, the Spurs led by 14 at the break.
The margin never dipped below double digits the rest of the way. The Sonics made runs in the third and fourth quarters, drawing within 11 points the first time and 14 the second, but the visitors merely yawned and stretched further in front.
In fairness, the Sonics deserve some credit. Sluggish in the first half – lifeless, actually – they finally chose to avoid utter embarrassment on their home court. And they succeeded, to some degree, losing the second half by just five points.
Still, with the outcome certain, fans began streaming to the KeyArena exits midway through the fourth period.
“I thought we played well,” said San Antonio coach Gregg Popovich, “but obviously the Sonics gave us a huge break. Ray is a very big difference because he’s a great player and he leads that team, so we were lucky in that regard.”
McMillan returned to his family home in Raleigh, N.C., early Sunday to be with his ailing mother. She died Sunday night and McMillan is expected to remain on the East Coast until later this week. His first game back will likely be Saturday night against Charlotte at KeyArena.
“Our thoughts go out to Nate and his family in a real difficult time,” Popovich said.
Seattle center Jerome James seemed on his way to a big night, matching season highs with 12 points and six rebounds in the first half. Alas, James played 10 minutes of the second half with nary a point or a rebound.
Ahead for the Sonics is another tough assignment tonight. Seattle, which again expects to be without Allen, is in Sacramento to face the resurgent Kings, winners of 11 of their last 13 games.
“We’re an NBA team and everybody here is here for a reason,” Casey said. “We can’t fall apart just because Ray is not here. Whether you’re missing one guy or two guys, somebody has to step up and take up the slack.”
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