Opponent: Indiana Pacers
When: 4 p.m.
Where: KeyArena, Seattle
TV: KING (Ch. 5)
Radio: KJR (950 AM)
Probable starters: For Seattle – forwards Vin Baker (6 feet, 11 inches) and Rashard Lewis (6-10), center Calvin Booth (6-11), guards Brent Barry (6-6) and Gary Payton (6-4). For Indiana – forwards Jermaine O’Neal (6-11) and Jalen Rose (6-8), center Jeff Foster (6-11), guards Reggie Miller (6-7) and Jamaal Tinsley (6-3).
Next game: Minnesota at Seattle, 7 p.m. Tuesday.
Scouting report: One longtime NBA veteran, a handful of guys who have played for a few years, and a bunch of youngsters. Sounds like the Sonics, but it also describes tonight’s opponent, the Indiana Pacers.
“They look a lot like us,” agreed Seattle coach Nate McMillan.
Indiana, under second-year coach Isiah Thomas, has changed dramatically from the team that reached the NBA Finals two seasons ago. Gone are Rik Smits, Mark Jackson, Dale Davis, Sam Perkins, Derrick McKey and others. Guard Reggie Miller, in his 15th season as a Pacer, is back, as is forward Jalen Rose, in his sixth season with the team. Otherwise, the Pacers are well into a rebuilding mode.
Rose leads the team in scoring at 22.1 points per game and is second in assists at 4.5. Forward Jermaine O’Neal is second in scoring at 17.4 points a game and averages a team-best 9.4 rebounds.
McMillan is particularly impressed with rookie point guard Jamaal Tinsley, the 27th pick in the 2001 draft out of Iowa State University (he was chosen by Memphis, then traded to Atlanta, then to Indiana). He has started all of the team’s 15 games and is averaging 11.0 points, 8.6 assists and 1.93 steals. His marks for assists and steals are team bests.
“Our scouts were real high on (Tinsley) during the draft,” McMillan said. “He’s developing into a solid point guard. He seems to handle pressure, and he delivers the ball right on time to those shooters.”
The Pacers won two of their last three games at home before heading to Seattle to start a five-game Western Conference road trip. Indiana began the season 6-2, but lost four straight in mid-November.
Medical report: If forward Vin Baker is activated today, as expected, the Sonics will be almost back to full health. Though several players still have nagging pains, only center Jerome James (on the injured list with a sprained ankle) is unable to practice.
Center Calvin Booth, who missed seven games with a sprained ankle before returning for Tuesday’s game in Dallas, sat out much of Saturday’s workout.
“Calvin is still a little sore, and we felt it was best if he rests for the game (tonight),” McMillan said. “But he’ll be ready.”
Laying down the law: Saturday’s practice was an energetic session, and McMillan was particularly forceful at times with his comments. Not surprising, given Seattle’s losing record (6-8), though the Sonics had impressive victories in two of their past three games.
One of McMillan’s primary messages is that playing time will be earned. At one point, he interrupted a scrimmage to announce emphatically, “If you keep turning the ball over and not playing defense, you’re going to get a seat on the bench.”
After the workout, McMillan addressed his athletes for several minutes, much longer than his usual end-of-practice remarks.
Talking with the media later, McMillan said he wants to avoid players “getting complacent with roles and minutes. There will be equal opportunity.”
What won’t matter, he said, will be the length and amount of a player’s contract, or the number of years he has been in the NBA or with the Sonics.
“The guys who are doing what this team needs to win, we will play them,” he said. “I wanted to make that clear to our team.”
All in all, he added, “I thought we had a good practice. I wanted us to have a good practice because we haven’t had one in weeks. We’ve basically been trying to let guys get their legs back (after) injuries, so this was really the first time we’ve had a good practice since the season started.”
Moving up: Reggie Miller needs 16 points to move into the NBA’s all-time top 20 in career scoring. Miller has 21,571 points, leaving him 15 behind Hall Greer.
Rich Myhre
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