Sonics fall to San Antonio 95-74

SAN ANTONIO — With one of their top scorers out and the other having a mediocre night, the San Antonio Spurs were still able to grab an easy — and important — victory over the Sonics.

San Antonio's 95-74 win Friday night strengthened its chances at getting home-court advantage, at least for the first round of the playoffs.

The Sonics led by as many as nine points while the Spurs struggled in the first half, hitting just 25 percent from the field in the opening quarter. The Spurs were unable to take a substantial lead until the closing minutes of the half, when they had an 8-0 run. With just seconds to go, Jacque Vaughn kicked the ball out to Michael Finley in the corner for a three-pointer that gave the Spurs a 45-37 lead at the break and shifted the momentum their way.

"We came out of a timeout tied at 37 and we just did a real poor job closing out the half," Sonics coach P.J. Carlesimo said.

Kevin Durant scored 20 points and Earl Watson had 17 for the Sonics, who dropped all three of their games in a swing through Texas.

Even without the third member of the Spurs' big three, Manu Ginobili, San Antonio led by double digits for all but 24 seconds in the second half. Ginobili was out with a mild strain in his left abductor.

"The fact that Manu was not playing I knew we had to try to do a little extra tonight and play a little bit more aggressive and try to get to the basket and get everybody involved," Parker said.

Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said after the game that Ginobili is doubtful for Sunday's game against the Los Angeles Lakers.

"Like most every game in the West [it's] another big challenge," Popovich said of Sunday's matchup. "You don't know what's going to happen in the West. You just have no idea."

After struggling offensively for their last three games, the Spurs were able to put up big numbers against the Sonics, who have the West's worst record. San Antonio shot 41 of 89 (46 percent) from the field and led by as many as 24 points.

"Their best player had a tough night," Carlesimo said. "But they hang in on defense."

Tony Parker scored 20 points, while Tim Duncan added 12 points and six rebounds on 4-of-12 shooting for the Spurs.

After Duncan put San Antonio up by 10 with 11:36 left in the third quarter, the Spurs led by double digits the rest of the way.

"I think the first half we played very hard," Durant said. "I think they just came back and hit us in the mouth at the beginning of the second half and we couldn't come back."

Reserve Ime Udoka, who finished with 13 points, opened the fourth quarter with back-to-back threes for a 78-59 lead, and Popovich was able to give his stars some much needed rest. Neither Duncan nor Parker played in the fourth.

"We were moving the ball great tonight," Udoka said. "A lot of people got open looks. Those were the shots we were missing in the first quarter."

Jeff Green scored 10 points for Seattle and Nick Collison grabbed 14 rebounds.

Note

• Carlesimo, a former Spurs assistant coach, got his championship ring from Popovich on Friday. "It's nice, it's just so far removed," Carlesimo said. "Really, last year in Cleveland and having the parade on the River Walk, that was a lot more meaningful."

SEATTLE
min		fgm-a	ftm-a	or-t	a	pf	pts
Green	30:13	4-11	2-2	0-2	1	2	10
Collison	35:59	4-11	0-1	3-14	1	2	8
Elson	19:20	1-3	0-0	0-4	0	4	2
Watson	37:05	8-14	1-2	0-3	3	2	17
Durant	34:40	9-19	2-3	2-6	3	1	20
Petro	27:19	3-8	4-6	0-7	0	3	10
Wilkins	19:59	1-6	0-0	0-2	0	1	3
Ridnour	26:17	2-9	0-0	1-5	4	4	4
Dupree	4:34	0-1	0-0	0-3	0	0	0
Griffin	4:34	0-1	0-0	0-0	1	0	0
Totals		32-83	9-14	6-46	13	19	74

Percentages: FG .386, FT .643. Three-point goals: 1-2, .500 (Wilkins 1-1, Green 0-1). Team rebounds: 3. Team turnovers: 15 (21 PTS). Blocked shots: 4 (Durant, Petro, Ridnour, Watson). Turnovers: 13 (Elson 3, Green 3, Collison 2, Petro 2, Watson 2, Wilkins). Steals: 8 (Petro 2, Watson 2, Collison, Elson, Green, Wilkins). Technical fouls: Defensive three second, 5:57 first.

SAN ANTONIO
min		fgm-a	ftm-a	or-t	a	pf	pts
Bowen	25:41	2-3	0-0	0-6	1	2	4
Duncan	24:19	4-12	4-8	1-6	2	1	12
Oberto	26:22	5-8	0-1	2-10	3	2	10
Parker	29:19	10-18	0-0	0-3	7	0	20
Finley	28:10	6-14	1-1	0-4	1	0	14
Thomas	22:21	3-7	0-0	0-5	1	0	6
Udoka	27:20	5-9	0-0	1-6	3	2	13
Vaughn	17:53	2-4	3-3	0-1	6	0	7
Bonner	19:12	2-6	1-2	2-10	0	1	5
Stoudamire	13:30	1-6	0-0	1-2	2	1	2
Johnson	5:53	1-2	0-0	0-0	0	1	2
Totals		41-89	9-15	7-53	26	10	95

Percentages: FG .461, FT .600. Three-point goals: 4-19, .211 (Udoka 3-4, Finley 1-5, Bowen 0-1, Johnson 0-1, Parker 0-1, Vaughn 0-1, Stoudamire 0-2, Bonner 0-4). Team rebounds: 8. Team turnovers: 13 (10 PTS). Blocked shots: 7 (Duncan 4, Bonner, Thomas, Udoka). Turnovers: 11 (Parker 5, Finley 2, Bonner, Oberto, Udoka, Vaughn). Steals: 4 (Parker 2, Stoudamire, Thomas). Technical fouls: Coach Popovich, 2:45 second.

Seattle	20	17	20	17 — 74
San Antonio	13	32	27	23 — 95

Attendance: 18,797 (18,797). Time: 2:03. Officials: Joe Crawford, Michael Smith, Sean Wright.