MR. STRETCH: KD's 7-4 wingspan came into play when he used the ends of his fingertips to swipe a Sacramento pass and tip the ball to keep it in play. He pushed the ball forward, dancing down the sideline to stay in-bounds, then dished the ball off to a racing Green for a dunk. The Sonics are down 74-73 heading into the final 12 minutes.

AT THE HALF: The Sonics rallied to pull within 54-48 after some solid shooting by Durant, Wally Szczerbiak, and rebounding by Wilcox. Before the game Sonics coach P.J. Carlesimo said Wilcox getting minutes and starting appeared to improve his play. The power forward had seven points and six boards at the break. yet, the pinky will remain an issue. And it's not like the paint is being dominated by the Sonics (yes, I realize it rarely has this season). Former Sonic Mikki Moore is throwing down like Shaq circa 2007 and the points in paint are even at 20 apiece.

HAWES CHECKS IN: There was a warm applause for Hawes when checked into the game at the start of the second quarter. The Kings are up 25-18 and shooting 52.4 percent from the field. Seattle is 8-for-24 from the field, starting a little sluggish.

SPENCE FOR HIRE: Spencer Hawes is making the rotations around KeyArena, catching up with former Washington teammates Ryan Appleby and Jon Brockman among other familiar faces. Don't worry, there's no OJ Mayo violation here.

"They bought their own tickets," Hawes said. "But I think that would have been allowed. If I would have [gotten them tickets], I think I could have got away with that one."

Sacramento coach Reggie Theus said he's going to give Hawes playing time, too. Some coaches don't take a player's homecoming into consideration when thinking about early game planning, but Theus said he'll have Hawes on the court until he plays himself back to the bench.

In his past five games, Hawes received one DNP and played 17 minutes against New Jersey while his other showings were six minutes or less. Hawes missed training camp and the opening four games of the season due to a knee injury that Theus said has slowed the player's progress this season.

Anyway, here are tonight's starters:

Sonics
F Jeff Green
F Chris Wilcox
C Kurt Thomas
G Kevin Durant
G Earl Watson

Kings
F Ron Artest
F Mikki Moore
C Brad Miller
G Kevin Martin
G Mike Bibby

The officials are Eddie Rush, Marc Davis, Brian Forte.