Nate McMillan

It's probably safe to assume that, with his team now one loss away from elimination, McMillan has delivered a similar speech to his players. With no margin for error and with the Western Conference Semifinals series against the San Antonio Spurs returning to KeyArena, anything less than 100% motivation for the Sonics in tonight's Game 6 would be a surprise.

In Game 5, the Spurs got off to a pair of great starts against the Sonics starting lineup. With the starting five in the game, the Sonics were outscored 20-3 and scored just twice on 13 possessions. The starting unit, particularly the frontcourt, has to get the Sonics off to a better start tonight. The starters won't get a boost from Rashard Lewis, who is out tonight after an MRI revealed more damage to his sprained left toe.

The Spurs got 39 points in Game 5 from Manu Ginobili, but don't expect the Sonics to make major adjustments defensively. Ginobili got hot and was unstoppable because of his ability to shoot and get to the basket. The Sonics do want to execute their defensive gameplan better after identifying several breakdowns during Game 5.

On offense, the Sonics want to move the ball better after getting only 12 assists in Game 5. Six of those came from Ray Allen, but even he can do a better job of finding teammates when the Spurs trap him off of pick-and-rolls. Allen has said he felt the Sonics were impatient during the second half, something that particularly seemed to be the case as the Spurs started the half on a 17-3 run. Of course, having 17,072 on their side instead of screaming for the Spurs should help in terms of patience, and home teams are 5-0 in this series thus far, winning by an average of 12.2 points per game.

G U A R D S
	Tony Parker's scoring in this series has passed the point of coincidence and officially become a trend. Every game, his output has gone down, from 29 points to 22 to 18 to 12 to 11 in Game 5. Even that overstates his impact on Tuesday, as Parker hit a couple of jumpers after the game was decided. The hope for the Spurs is that gets him going. Luke Ridnour couldn't replicate his big Game 4 effort, but was solid with 12 points and six rebounds.
	Moved back into the starting lineup for Game 5, Ginobili exploded for a Playoffs career high 39 points, requiring only 15 shots. Ginobili set up camp at the free-throw line, attempting 17 free throws and making 15 of them. The Spurs are now 3-0 in this series when Ginobili outscores Allen, while the Sonics have won the two games where Allen has been the high scorer at shooting guard. Allen got some good shots off in the fourth quarter of Game 5, but couldn't get them to fall. He finished the game 8-for-19 from the field and only 2-for-8 from 3-point range.
F O R W A R D S
	As Lewis' replacement in the starting lineup, Antonio Daniels continues to be the most consistent Sonics contributor. Daniels has scored double-figures in all five games of the series and is averaging 17.0 points on 53.1% shooting. By aggressively getting to the basket, Daniels has earned 33 foul shots and converted 33 of them. That's six points a game right there. San Antonio's Bruce Bowen finally made his impact felt on offense Tuesday, scoring eight points and hitting a pair of 3-pointers. But the Spurs are much more worried about Bowen's defense on Allen.
	All things considered, the Sonics did an outstanding job defensively against Tim Duncan on Tuesday. Duncan scored 20 points, but shot just 9-for-21 from the field and 2-for-6 from the free-throw line while committing four turnovers. Credit goes to Danny Fortson for doing a fine job keeping Duncan from establishing position on the block when matched up against him. Starter Reggie Evans had six rebounds in 12 minutes.
C E N T E R
	Nazr Mohammed finally was a presence in Game 5, and what a presence he was. Mohammed had 19 points on 8-for-10 shooting and grabbed seven rebounds all while playing just 20 minutes. McMillan blamed defensive lapses, while Allen pointed out that Mohammed was able to score off his three offensive rebounds. Jerome James scored 10 points for the Sonics, but had only two rebounds and no blocks in his 17 minutes of work, indicating he was not active enough on defense.
B E N C H
	Game 5 provided a reminder of why Gregg Popovich put Ginobili on the bench in the first place; without him, the Spurs reserves combined for only six points. Robert Horry (right) made the only real contribution by a San Antonio bench player, grabbing eight rebounds. Brent Barry continues to struggle in this series, and the Spurs were outscored by 14 points during his 22 minutes of action (meaning, by deduction, they were +27 in the other 26 minutes). Center Rasho Nesterovic did not get off the bench. Nick Collison (left) had a strong effort for the Sonics despite being limited to 20 minutes by foul trouble. Collison scored 14 points on 6-for-8 shooting. Damien Wilkins continues to log heavy minutes in Lewis' absence and had nine points and six rebounds in Game 5. Fortson had a team-high nine rebounds.

TEAM LEADERS ALLEN DUNCAN Allen 20.8 PPG Duncan 25.0 Evans/Lewis 7.0 RPG Duncan 10.6 Daniels 4.0 APG Parker 4.6 Wilkins 2.3 SPG Parker/Udrih 1.0 James 1.6 BPG Duncan 2.6 Lewis 39.0 MPG Parker 37.0

The Sonics last lost a Game 6 at home facing elimination in 1975.

INJURIES

Sonics - Forwards Rashard Lewis (sprained left big toe) and Vladimir Radmanovic (sprained right ankle) are out.

San Antonio - None.

For more analysis before tonight's game, listen to David Locke on the Sonics Pregame Show starting at 6:50 on KJR 950 AM and 7:00 on Sonics Radio Network stations.