Opponent: San Antonio Spurs
When: 7:30 p.m.
Where: KeyArena, Seattle
TV: KONG (Ch. 6/16)
Radio: KJR (950 AM)
Probable starters: For Seattle – Forwards Rashard Lewis (6 feet 10 inches) and Vlade Radmanovic (6-10), center Jerome James (7-1), guards Brent Barry (6-6) and Antonio Daniels (6-4). For San Antonio – Forwards Tim Duncan (7-0) and Bruce Bowen (6-7), center Rasho Nesterovic (7-0), guards Emanuel Ginobili (6-6) and Tony Parker (6-2).
Next game: Seattle at Denver, 6 p.m. Sunday.
Spurs arrive without Robinson: For the first time since the 1988-89 season, the Sonics will take on a San Antonio team without David Robinson on its roster.
Still, the Spurs have several familiar faces from last season’s NBA championship team, along with several strong additions. Of the former, two-time league MVP Tim Duncan is back and playing with his usual brilliance – he averages 22.1 points, 12.9 rebounds, 2.7 assists and 2.57 blocked shots a game.
The backcourt of point guard Tony Parker and shooting guard Emanuel Ginobili is good and getting better. Parker averages 14.2 points and 5.8 assists, while Ginobili contributes 13.7 points, 4.5 assists and 2.22 steals.
The top newcomers are center Rasho Nesterovic (free agent, Minnesota), forward Hedo Turkoglu (free agent, Sacramento), forward Robert Horry (free agent, LA Lakers) and guard/forward Ron Mercer (trade, Indiana).
With so many new faces, the Spurs went through some predictable early season struggles. A loss to the Lakers on Dec. 3 dropped San Antonio to 9-10, but since then the team has won eight straight to tie Denver for first in the Midwest Division.
“I think everybody knows who San Antonio is and what they’re about,” said Sonics coach Nate McMillan. “I’m sure this is a game people don’t expect us to win. But sometimes we tend to play a little bit more relaxed in situations like that. We don’t put pressure on ourselves like we do against a team we should beat.”
Still, he added, “We have all the respect in the world for San Antonio.”
Evans update: Seattle forward Reggie Evans, who played just two minutes of Wednesday’s game against Denver before leaving with a bruised knee, did not practice Thursday but is expected to play tonight.
Collison update: Ray Allen was not the only injured Sonic on the court Thursday. Rookie forward Nick Collison, who has not played this season after Oct. 14 shoulder surgery, did some shooting, albeit by himself at the end of practice.
Collison is expected to return to New York sometime after the first of the year to see Dr. Russell Warren, the noted shoulder specialist who tightened the ligaments in Collison’s left shoulder after it was dislocated in training camp. Because there also is looseness in Collison’s right shoulder, he is expected to have similar surgery in the coming weeks, though it may be done arthroscopically. That determination will be made when Collison makes his January visit.
Collison, Seattle’s top draft pick in June, will miss the entire season but is expected to be fully healthy for the 2004-05 season.
Whatever happened to … : Does the name Paccelis “Patch” Morlende ring a bell? That was the player Seattle acquired in a draft-day trade with Philadelphia for guard Willie Green – both players were second-round picks.
The 22-year-old Morlende, who played with Seattle’s summer league team, is now with Dijon of the French Pro League and is averaging 12.1 points a game. No decision has been made about when, if ever, he might try out with the Sonics.
Rich Myhre
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