REMINDER: I'm tweeting during these games, too, so peek at the right side of this page to see those.
Blogging from courtside at the AT&T Center, front row two seats to the left of esteemed radio man Jason Ross...
PREGAME
I messed up the tipoff time, but we're about to get going here at 5:30 Pacific. Anyways, Kings coach Paul Wespthal half-jokingly said the most important adjustment tonight will be...let the drama and suspense build...hitting layups. Spurs' reserve big man Antonio McDyess is out with flu-like symptoms....Here we go.. - Sam Amick
FIRST QUARTER - Spurs 32, Kings 27
No way I'm going to try to capture that quarter on this forum, but that was some of the funniest stuff I've ever been a part of at an NBA game.
An actual bat breaks up play on three occasions, with Kevin Martin at one point chasing the thing - unintentionally - on a fastbreak and he goes reverse because he felt an unexpected presence. It wasn't DeJuan Blair, as he told me he thought it was a moment ago, but the bat.
So Manu GInobili then becomes an even bigger cult hero by Manu-chopping the thing with his bare left hand. Anyways, I had all kinds of game-related material I'd intended to share, but the action is back and all I offered was hijinx. So sorry...
I'm channeling my inner Westphal for a bit of mind-reading: "Of course Richard Jefferson starts hitting shots now!" he screams between his ears. Jefferson entered play just 4 of 16 from the field in his first two games with the Spurs, but is two for two so far.
SECOND QUARTER - Spurs, 61, Kings 45
Kings are letting this one get away from them early, as the Spurs ended the second quarter on a 21-8 run. Their chances at this point, one could say, are about as likely as the infamous bat returning (it has been terminated, I was told).
No surprise storyline from the Spurs, who have a combined 37 points from Tony Parker, Tim Duncan and Ginobili. Parker has destroyed everyone the Kings threw his way (7 of 12 shooting, 16 points, five assists), from Tyreke Evans to Beno Udrih to Omri Casspi and probably a few others I missed. Spurs are shooting 61 percent.
That's not the only similiarity to the OKC opener, either, as Martin is once again without much offensive help. He has a very aggressive 16 points (5 of 10 shooting) and has actually been to the line tonight (he didn't last night), and hit 5 of 6 from the line. But Andres Nocioni is 1 of 7, Casspi is 1 of 4, and Evans is 1 of 4 as well.
THIRD QUARTER - Spurs 95, Kings 75
This has unofficially become a valuable Kings practice. They are trying new sets and lineups, praising each other when something works patting each other on the backs when things go wrong.
The entire period wasn't that way, though, as the offense was so discombobulated in the early third that Kevin Martin was trying to tell the coaching staff they didn't know the "one up" play and Tyreke Evans growing frustrated when teammates tried to tell him where he'd gone wrong. And by the way, I'm now being told that the bat was merely stunned and released. The Manu-chop was not lethal.
Spencer Hawes also awoke in the third, scoring 12 of his 17 points with a number of nice drive and dishes for dunks from Evans.
FOURTH QUARTER - Spurs 113, Kings 94
The only significant news of this period isn't good: Evans went down after driving the lane and left with a sprained right ankle midway through the fourth.
Also, it turns out the bat didn't make it after all.
REMINDER: I'm tweeting during these games, too, so peek at the right side of this page to see those.
