Opponent: San Antonio Spurs
When: 7 p.m.
Where: KeyArena, Seattle
TV: FSN (cable)
Radio: KJR (950 AM)
Probable starters: For Seattle – forwards Rashard Lewis (6 feet, 10 inches) and Reggie Evans (6-8), center Jerome James (7-1), guards Ray Allen (6-5) and Luke Ridnour (6-2). For San Antonio – forwards Tim Duncan (7-0) and Bruce Bowen (6-7), center Robert Horry (6-10), guards Manu Ginobili (6-6) and Tony Parker (6-2).
Next game: Seattle at Sacramento, 7 p.m. Tuesday.
Spurs boast versatile lineup
Think about the San Antonio Spurs and you tend to think about Tim Duncan.
Not surprising, since the 7-0 forward is a two-time league MVP (2002, 2003) and has been named to the All-NBA first team the past seven consecutive seasons. The Spurs, though, boast more than Duncan.
They have, in fact, what is perhaps the most complete roster in the league.
Tony Parker is a premier point guard and is still getting better, shooting guard Manu Ginobli is one of the NBA’s most versatile players, forward Bruce Bowen is a defensive stalwart, center Rasho Nesterovic is a 7-0 shot blocker (he will not play against Seattle due to a sprained ankle), and bench players like ex-Sonic Brent Barry, Robert Horry, Malik Rose and Devin Brown are making ample contributions.
“You can’t just prepare for Tim anymore,” said Seattle guard Antonio Daniels, who spent four seasons with San Antonio. “They have a lot more weapons than that.”
The emergence of Parker, in fact, was one reason the Spurs were willing to trade Daniels to Portland in the 2002 offseason (he signed with Seattle as a free agent a year later).
“Tony is young and extremely quick,” Daniels said. “He’s one of the quickest guys in the league off the dribble, if not the quickest. He’s very tough to guard, and I know just from playing against him for a year. But he’s matured a whole lot since then and you can see the maturity in his game every time they play.”
“Parker is playing super,” added Seattle associate head coach Dwane Casey.
Eyeing the Spurs roster, Casey said he doesn’t “see any weaknesses. They’re a very talented team and we have our work cut out for us. We have to come in with our high beams on (tonight) because it’s going to be a very difficult game for us.”
Trivia question: What current NBA player has been on the most NBA championship teams.
Sniff, sniff: Seattle guard Ray Allen came down with the flu over the weekend, which may be because he was one of the few players not to get what Casey called “a nasal sniff.” That is, something akin to a flu shot, but one that is taken like nose drops.
There was, as most people know, a shortage of flu vaccine this winter and the Sonics could not get their usual flu shots. Even high-priced NBA athletes “don’t get any special treatment,” Casey said, “so we got the nasal sniffs instead.”
And the reason Allen didn’t get his “sniff,” Casey said, is because it is not recommended for people with small children. Allen has a young son.
Lewis update: Sonics forward Rashard Lewis says the ongoing tendinitis in his left knee is better, sort of.
“It’s sore one day and it feels good the next,” he reported Sunday. “Mike (Shimensky, Seattle’s trainer) told me there are going to be some days where it feels good and other days when it’s sore. That just comes from the schedule we have.”
The knee is usually more painful when the Sonics have back-to-back games, as they did last week when they played at the L.A. Lakers on Tuesday and at Utah on Wednesday. “It most definitely was bothering me in Utah,” Lewis said.
The good news is that the plantar fasciitis that slowed Lewis early in the season has gone away, due largely to special inserts he wears in his shoes.
Trivia answer: San Antonio’s Robert Horry was on the 1994 and 1995 Houston Rockets championship teams, and on the L.A. Lakers title teams in 2000, 2001 and 2002. Considering the Spurs are a top contender this season, Horry could soon be enjoying No. 6.
Rich Myhre, Herald Writer
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