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49 °F Forecast | Road Cams Monday, May 9, 2005 Today's News | Shop Our Valley | Tempo | Health | Community | Home Delivery | Contact Us SECTIONS Home Page Local News Sports Business Obituaries Life Opinion Tempo AP News Weather Classified Archives Site Map SPECIAL SECTIONS Since We Asked Outdoor Journal Menu Guide How To Guide Health Readers' Choice Real Estate Showcase Real Estate Guide Joy Magazine Homelife Magazine Wedding Guide Passport to the Rogue Valley SHOP OUR VALLEY AutoFinder HomeFinder JobFinder Classified Place an ad TOP JOBS EXTRA Ashland News NIE Personals Movie Times TV Times E The People Volunteer Moving here? eSouthernOregon CUSTOMER SERVICE FAQ's Advertise with us Home Delivery Employment Contact Us Media Kit Oregon Road Conditions & Cams Email Story to a Friend May 9, 2005 San Antonio�s Tony Parker (9) drives past Seattle�s Jerome James (13) during the first quarter of Game 1 of their Western Conference semifinal on Sunday. AP Spurs turn Game 1 into rout San Antonio takes advantage of key injuries to Sonics’ best players to win the opener By T.A. BADGER The Associated Press SAN ANTONIO — Not having to deal much with Ray Allen or Vladimir Radmanovic made things much easier for the San Antonio Spurs on Sunday night. Not having those two key players could make future playoff games a lot tougher for the Seattle SuperSonics. San Antonio already had a double-digit lead when the Sonics lost both Allen and Radmanovic to right ankle sprains in the second quarter. After that, the Spurs’ lead reached 30 points before halftime in a 103-81 victory in the opener of their second-round series. Seattle coach Nate McMillan said X-rays were negative for both players and they would be listed as day to day. Game 2 in the best-of-seven series is Tuesday night. "I don’t want to even think about not having Ray Allen right now," said Sonics center Jerome James, adding that if Allen can’t play, "I am more than ready to step up and play like I did in the last series." Advertisement Neither Allen nor Radmanovic were in the locker room after the game. The injuries occurred in a span of less than a minute early in the second quarter, and the Spurs took advantage by going on a 17-2 run that made it 58-28 with about two minutes remaining in the half. Allen, an All-Star who averaged 32.4 points in the SuperSonics’ first-round series win over Sacramento, got hurt while driving to the basket. "He means to them what Timmy (Duncan) means to us," said Spurs coach Gregg Popovich. "He’s huge and makes the whole team confident." Radmanovic rolled his ankle while defending Brent Barry and had to be carried from the court by teammates. Rashard Lewis, who led the Sonics with 19 points, said the team has to step up its defense — with or without Allen in the lineup. "We are playing a championship team, so we have to get it done on the defensive end," Lewis said. San Antonio came out with more energy than it did in Game 1 of the opening round, which the Spurs lost at home against Denver. San Antonio then won the next four games to advance. Tony Parker matched his career playoff high with 29 points for the Spurs, 11 of them coming in the first quarter. "The first game against Denver was a great wake-up call for us," Parker said. "I wanted to make sure that, as a team, we didn’t make the same mistake." Duncan added 22 points and nine rebounds for the Spurs, who shot 51 percent. Glenn Robinson added 16 points. Antonio Daniels scored 15 for Seattle. Parker said before the series started that he would attack the Sonics defense from the get-go, and he was true to his word. He drove inside for San Antonio’s first three baskets. Ten of the Spurs’ 12 field goals in the first quarter were layups, and Duncan had a dunk. Manu Ginobili hit a 3-pointer from the left wing to give San Antonio a 18-8 lead midway through the first. Two layups by Allen and a short jumper by Lewis cut it to 19-14, but the Spurs then finished the period by outscoring Seattle 16-8. San Antonio led by 13 when Radmanovic rolled his ankle. Radmanovic had suffered a stress fracture in his lower right leg in March and missed the final 19 games of the regular season. He played in all five first-round playoff games against the Kings, averaging 6.4 points and 3.6 rebounds. Seattle, which trailed 62-35 at the break, finished the second quarter by shooting 3-for-13 after Allen’s injury. Notes: The Spurs are 5-0 in the Duncan era when hosting Game 1 of a Western Conference semifinal series. ... The Spurs’ Robert Horry played in his 181st playoff game, moving past Dennis Johnson for ninth place all-time. ... McMillan’s playoff record is 5-5 as Seattle’s coach. ... Nick Collison beat the third-quarter buzzer with a heave from the Spurs’ free-throw line to make it 75-57. ... After averaging a surprising 17.2 points and 9.4 rebounds in the Kings series, James scored four points on 2-for-8 shooting and had two rebounds. Mail Tribune Home | Local News | Sports | Business | Obituaries | Life | Opinion AP News | Archives | Site Map | Community | Classified Copyright © 1997-2005 Mail Tribune, Inc. All rights reserved. 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