Live From the Press Box - Sonics vs. San Antonio
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Sonics Win!
Final: Sonics 88, San Antonio 85
Manu Ginobili had a three-point look to tie the game, but he was off-balance and the shot was off. The rebound trickled out of bounds and the Sonics inbounded to Luke Ridnour, who darted around the court avoiding San Antonio defenders to run out the final 4.1 seconds. With that, a Sonics victory and rejoicing at KeyArena. The Sonics had worked so hard and been so close recently that the team really deserved to taste victory, and getting one over the defending champs has to feel sweet.
It took a number of players for the Sonics to earn this victory tonight. Kevin Durant hit the big shot and had one of his best all-around games of the season, scoring 26 points on 9-of-19 shooting with seven rebounds and five assists. Kurt Thomas and Chris Wilcox had a lot of big shots in the fourth quarter, and Wilcox (16 points, 10 rebounds) and Nick Collison (14 points, 10 rebounds) both had double-doubles. Luke Ridnour was 1-of-6 from the field, but he was at the controls down the stretch and did not turn the ball over in 24 minutes of action as the Sonics committed a season-low six turnovers as a team.
On Thursday night, the Sonics will look to keep their momentum going when the Cleveland Cavaliers are here for LeBron James' only KeyArena visit of the season. You won't want to miss that game, so make sure you 
get your tickets now!
Sonics by Three
Fourth Quarter: Sonics 88, San Antonio 85
The Sonics had to use a timeout to get the ball inbounds, but they worked it to Luke Ridnour, who made both shots, meaning the Spurs need a three to tie. With plenty of time left (12.0 seconds) as well as two timeouts, they may go for a quick two. The Sonics are now out of timeouts.
Score and Stop
Fourth Quarter: Sonics 86, San Antonio 85
Just the sequence of events the Sonics needed. Great inbounds play freed Kevin Durant for an open look from the left elbow and Durant was true, putting the Sonics on top with 32.6 seconds left. Manu Ginobili ran a pick-and-roll and delivered the ball to Fabricio Oberto, but Kurt Thomas rotated to affect the shot and corralled the rebound. San Antonio will be forced to foul with 14.3 seconds left.
Manu's Three Gives Spurs Lead
Fourth Quarter: San Antonio 85, Sonics 84
By splitting two free throws, Manu Ginobili opened the door for Chris Wilcox to give the Sonics a two-point lead with a turnaround bucket in the post with just under a minute left. Ginobili atoned for his miss the next time down, however, hitting a three-pointer from the top of the key to put San Antonio ahead 85-84 with 43.5 seconds on the clock. After getting the ball across halfcourt, P.J. Carlesimo took a full timeout. The Sonics come out with 18 on the small clock and 37.0 on the big and a chance to take the lead with a score.
No Place Like the Key
Fourth Quarter: Sonics 82, San Antonio 81
Right now, there's no place you'd rather be than KeyArena as we look forward to a thrilling finish to tonight's game at our final timeout with 1:15 left. The lower bowl has collectively risen to its feet in honor of the intense basketball at both ends of the court. We played nearly two minutes without a stoppage of play before Manu Ginobili was fouled driving to the basket, and the action allowed the Sonics to take a one-point lead.
Kurt Thomas, who has had the privilege of banging with Tim Duncan at both ends all night long, gave the Sonics the lead on a jumper off of a pick-and-pop with Durant - the latter's fifth assist of the evening. It was Thomas' second consecutive basket for the Sonics. Meanwhile, Chris Wilcox has been all over the court since returning to the game, picking up four points and five rebounds to keep the Sonics in the game when it looked like San Antonio had the momentum.
Headed Down to the Wire
Fourth Quarter: San Antonio 72, Sonics 71
The Spurs came out of their timeout and scored the next four points to reclaim the lead, but that's as far as they've gotten. It remains a one-point game with 5:59 left. Not a lot of momentum to be had right now on either side. That has bogged into a grind-it-out affair that very much looks like it come down to the final possession.
The Sonics have gotten some starters back in the game. Kevin Durant, Chris Wilcox and Kurt Thomas join Luke Ridnour and Wally Szczerbiak on the floor. The Spurs are going with Manu Ginobili at the point down the stretch, flanked by Michael Finley, Bruce Bowen, Tim Duncan and Fabricio Oberto.
Sonics Take the Lead
Fourth Quarter: Sonics 69, San Antonio 66
The Sonics have reversed their poor start in the third quarter and come out afire here in the fourth, scoring the first six points of the period to take a three-point lead at 69-66 with 8:57 left in the ballgame. The Sonics have stifled the Spurs on defense and have finished the stops with defensive boards. I have been remiss in not mentioning the efforts of Nick Collison tonight, but after grabbing rebounds on each of San Antonio's last four possessions, Collison has a double-double of 14 points and 10 rebounds on 6-of-8 shooting. That's strong stuff.
After taking timeout, Gregg Popovich will come back with his starting lineup minus Bruce Bowen (replaced by Michael Finley). Popovich talks about not placing too much importance on one game and he backs that up with his actions, but I can't help but think he really wants this one.
Crowd Behind Sonics
End Third Quarter: San Antonio 66, Sonics 63
The Sonics finished the third quarter in strong fashion, getting as close as one point before Manu Ginobili finished the period with a stepback jumper to give the Spurs a three-point advantage. The KeyArena crowd was into it as if that was the end of the game, not just the third quarter. It started for the Sonics on the defensive end. Kevin Durant blocked Manu Ginobili's shot before the Sonics came up with a steal, creating a fastbreak that turned into a Durant dunk on the other end.
The assist on that Durant dunk came from Luke Ridnour, and it was his third of the night and number 1,653 in his NBA career. That moves him past Detlef Schrempf and all alone into ninth place in franchise history in assists. Next up for Ridnour, who broke into the top 10 earlier this season, is Spurs guard Brent Barry, just 15 assists away in eighth place.
Sonics Hanging in There
Third Quarter: San Antonio 62, Sonics 54
The Sonics still aren't shooting the ball real well - right now they're at 4-of-16, 25%, during the third quarter - but they haven't allowed the Spurs to open up a real big lead, staying within eight. They've really been scrapping out there, particularly veteran Kurt Thomas, who has a couple of buckets as well. Kevin Durant has really done a good job recently of involving Thomas when they run pick-and-rolls or pick-and-pops, and that has frequently resulted in good looks from the perimeter for Thomas. Tonight, he mixed it up and took the ball to the basket for a driving layup.
The Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock air-guitar contest is back at KeyArena tonight on XBOX 360 Student Rush night, and fans haven't forgotten how to strum their imaginary guitars in inventive ways. That's one of my favorite timeout features.
Iron Unkind
Third Quarter: San Antonio 57, Sonics 48
Nearly five minutes into the second half, the Sonics have put just two points on the scoreboard, missing seven of their eight shot attempts. Relative to that performance, the Spurs have been on fire, scoring nine points on 4-of-7 shooting to open their lead up to nine, the largest it has been tonight. The Spurs have picked up their defensive intensity coming out of the locker room, as the elite teams generally do, but the Sonics haven't been turning the ball over and have been getting decent looks, like a Chris Wilcox reverse layup attempt. They're just not falling since halftime.
Wild Finish to Half
Halftime: San Antonio 48, Sonics 46
It looked like the Spurs would take momentum to the locker room, having scored a pair of late buckets while the Sonics did not execute well down the stretch. Johan Petro disagreed. With Earl Watson's last-second off-balance layup attempt falling off the rim, Petro swooped in out of nowhere to dunk it home powerfully just before the buzzer sounded. This came just after Petro blocked Manu Ginobili's shot on the other end. Petro, who has played well recently, had four points and three boards for the Sonics playing late in the first half.
We go to intermission, then, with the Sonics down just two and having played the Spurs even throughout this first half. Neither team had a lead larger than eight and there were multiple lead changes. The Sonics did a great job taking care of the basketball, committing just four turnovers, but San Antonio had only eight. Really, it's remarkable how close the statistics are across the boards - 21 turnovers apiece, 10 assists apiece, eight fouls on the Sonics and seven on San Antonio, etc. Will that translate into a thrilling finish?
Frustrated Duncan
Second Quarter: San Antonio 40, Sonics 39
Tim Duncan didn't need any words to convey his emotions after missing two attempts on one possession with some physical play from the Sonics. All it took was his expressive eyes, filled with sadness. (OK, Duncan did use some words later, chatting with referee Bill Spooner during the timeout). Duncan scored on the next Spurs possession, but he's shot just 3-of-10 from the field tonight against swarming Sonics defenders.
For San Antonio, tonight is the second game of the annual "Rodeo Road Trip" - this year encompassing a marathon nine games in 17 days. P.J. Carlesimo was asked before the game about whether, in his experience as an assistant for the Spurs, the extended trip really has powers in terms of bringing San Antonio together.
"Really, much wasn't made of it," said Carlesimo. "It was more written about than talked about by the team. It was just a reality - you'd go on the road for eight or nine or 10 games, whatever it was, always right before the All-Star break. Then when you would go and win eight of them or seven of them or nine of them, when it was over they'd say, 'Wow, it was great. They took it into the break on a high and never looked back,' I don't think it was by design."
Ginobili Stays Hot
Second Quarter: San Antonio 36, Sonics 35
With Tony Parker on the sidelines and Tim Duncan relatively quiet so far (he's got four points on 2-for-6 shooting, along with five boards), it's fallen to Manu Ginobili to carry the Spurs offense. He's got 14 points on 6-for-7 shooting. Ginobili often ends up on the floor after a shot, having taken contact, but one play a moment ago took that to an extreme. Ginobili lost his balance after shooting a fadeaway in front of the Spurs bench and hit the ground face-first right in front of his coaching staff. Don't worry - Ginobili walked away fine.
Wally Szczerbiak has come off the bench for six points for the Sonics, none more surprising than his driving baseline and flushing hard with the right hand when no help defense came to meet him at the rim.
Western Horizon
Second Quarter: San Antonio 31, Sonics 31
Delonte West is on the court for the Sonics here to start this second quarter, playing backup minutes at shooting guard. Damien Wilkins has filled that role lately, but according to the box scores we were handed after the first quarter, he is not with the team tonight because of the flu. The Sonics bench has come in and been productive as the team briefly took the lead at 31-29.
Sonics Within One After One
End First Quarter: San Antonio 26, Sonics 25
The Sonics closed the first quarter with Luke Ridnour feeding Chris Wilcox for a turnaround to make it a one-point game as we head to the second quarter. The Sonics have to feel good about the way they've executed on offense so far. They have just one turnover tonight. Defensively, the Sonics can do a better job, having surrendered 50% shooting, but they've kept the Spurs off the free-throw line so far tonight.
The damage from the Spurs could have been worse were it not for yeoman work from Sonics center Kurt Thomas, who two steals, a block and three defensive rebounds in his 11 minutes of action. Thomas was all over the floor, playing Tim Duncan and getting out to block Michael Finley's shot in the corner and get a Sonics stop.
Gelabale to D-League
First Quarter: San Antonio 19, Sonics 15
Last night, the Sonics announced that they have assigned second-year swingman Mickaël Gelabale to the Idaho Stampede of the NBA Development League. Gelabale joins Mouhamed Sene in Idaho and as the second Sonics player to play in the D-League. For P.J. Carlesimo, the explanation was simple. The Sonics wanted Gelabale to get a chance to play.
"Even when we practice, we can't go as long as probably we would like to go," said Carlesimo. "He doesn't even get a run in practice. He's not going to get any better. As much as he works with BK (Brian Keefe) and Mark (Bryant), which is great, he's not getting a chance to play basketball. This is a chance for him to get six games. He'll be down there almost exactly two weeks. He'll get a chance to play and we'll get a chance to look at him while we look at other people here."
Barring some injury-related need, Gelabale is due back to the Sonics on Feb. 12 to get in a couple of practices before the All-Star break. That will be the team's next extended break, with the Sonics playing every other day through Feb. 8. Carlesimo said he hopes to carve out some time to give Gelabale regular minutes for the Sonics later this season.
Hot Shooting Early
First Quarter: San Antonio 17, Sonics 11
San Antonio holds a six-point lead, but Head Coach Gregg Popovich still took a relatively early timeout because he's unhappy with the way his squad is defending. The Spurs have allowed the Sonics to shoot 55.5% from the field (5-of-9) so far tonight. The Spurs are one of five opponents the Sonics have shot 50% against this season, surprising given the quality of San Antonio's defense.
The early catalyst has been Kevin Durant, who has a a good drive for a layup, a runner and a three-pointer so far this evening and has set up both of Chris Wilcox's buckets, meaning Durant has had a hand in all 11 points the Sonics have scored so far tonight. The Spurs have been even better on offense, shooting 8-of-11 from the field, a cool 72.7%. Manu Ginobili has been aggressive and has nine points on 4-for-5 shooting.
Parker Sidelined
Pregame
The Spurs will play tonight without All-Star point guard Tony Parker, who has been bothered by bone spurs in his left heel. Parker has been dealing with the bone spurs since late November, but has missed only four games this season when he sprained his left ankle in mid-December.
"He needs to sit," said Spurs Head Coach Gregg Popovich, recognizing the importance of having Parker healthy for the postseason. "He's playing about 60-70%."
The Spurs are thin at guard, as they were already playing without former Sonics guard Brent Barry, who would likely have gotten some minutes at the point in Parker's absence. Jacque Vaughn, who will start for Parker, is the only true point guard available. Shooting guard Manu Ginobili will likely slide over and see some backup minutes at the point.
Signing On
Pregame
The Sonics continue their seven-game homestand tonight, hosting the San Antonio Spurs at KeyArena. These two teams put on a pretty good show back on Nov. 25 at the Key, with the Sonics trailing by just four entering the last five minutes before the Spurs pulled away for the win. As you know, there are plenty of ties between these two teams, which should make for another entertaining matchup. Stay with us all night long for the latest.
