SAN ANTONIO – Even Spencer Hawes knew the numbers were deceiving.

The Kings' third-year center had 22 points and 10 rebounds in a 113-94 loss to San Antonio on Saturday, but much of it came after the game was out of hand. Still, Hawes could use any kind of momentum at the moment. And this served as momentum.

"Given the outcome, it's hard to look at my performance and be too excited about it," Hawes said. "I guess individually it's a step in the right direction. But we've still got a lot of things to work on."

His spirit, for one.

Hawes expected to be a starter this season, so the adjustment to coming off the bench continues to be a major one. Kings coach Paul Westphal has decided to use Sean May at power forward and Jason Thompson at center, his way of avoiding an extremely undersized second unit and the always-present problem of Thompson and his foul trouble.

Hawes was the fourth player off the bench against the Spurs, entering with 3:54 left in the first quarter. He struggled early, losing an entry pass from Omri Casspi in the paint, recovering to hit a short jumper over Tim Duncan, only to blow a perfect alley-oop pass from Beno Udrih on a fast break in the first quarter.

Hawes drew Westphal's ire in the second quarter when he lost the ball in the post and watched idly as Andres Nocioni attempted to recover it. Clearly, Westphal remembered the plays at the beginning more than the ones at the end.

"Did he have a good game?" Westphal asked when a reporter's question held that premise. "OK. I don't think anybody really played that well for us. I'm glad he got some numbers, but we got outworked by them in every category that mattered defensively. That's what I was looking at. I don't mean to take anything away from him."

Still, Hawes said he must find positives in his game to help regain his confidence.

"I've never really had a stretch where I've been down on myself like this, and I never should have let myself get here no matter how I'm playing," he said. "You don't really blame anybody but yourself (for being in this position), but you do have to put a chip on your shoulder. You have to flip it and use it to motivate you."

Truly batty – Manu Ginobili was a local legend before, but he added to his charming tale with a fearless first-quarter swat of a bat that was flying around the AT&T Center.

Ginobili didn't stop there, picking up the stunned bat with his bare hands and handing it to an arena employee. According to Spurs officials, the bat didn't survive. As for Ginobili's one-of-a-kind reputation? Alive and well.

"When you can't dunk, you have to find a way to make the news," the Spurs guard from Argentina joked. "I didn't think it was a big deal, but then everyone in the arena was (chanting) my name."

The moment was priceless, largely because no other player, official or coach looked even slightly interested in corralling the creature.

Westphal joked with team trainer Pete Youngman that he was about to steal his clipboard for defense, and players generally scurried away as it darted all over the floor. Except for Ginobili.

"I guess in Argentina, bat hunting is part of everyday life," a smiling Hawes said. "Someone had to do it, and it wasn't going to be me. They've got all kinds of diseases. … PETA's going to have a fit about that one."

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