San Antonio (11-2) at Seattle (2-11)

Tipoff: 6 p.m., KeyArena.
TV: FSN. Radio: 770-AM.

Series: Seattle lost all four meetings to the Spurs last season by an average of 27.3 points a game.

Scouting the Spurs: San Antonio, along with the Boston Celtics, are playing the best basketball in the NBA right now. San Antonio comes to Seattle on a four-game winning streak. The Spurs have held 10 of their 13 opponents under 100 points and rank No. 1 in the league in terms of taking care of the ball with just 12.4 giveaways a game. ... Tony Parker leads the team in scoring at 20.4 points a contest and has scored over 30 points twice this season. Parker also averages 6.5 assists a game. Perennial All-Star Tim Duncan averages 18.2 points and 9.8 rebounds a game. And Manu Ginobili averages 19.8 points a contest.

After working as San Antonio’s top assistant the past five seasons, Carlesimo knows the Spurs well. So does Carlesimo’s boss, Seattle general manager Sam Presti, who served as San Antonio’s assistant general manager and worked with the organization since 2000.

"There's always kind of a yin to a yang when it comes to a coaching staff," Spurs guard and ex-Sonic Brent Barry told the San Antonio Express-News . "I don't want to call P.J. a yang, because that doesn't sound complimentary, but P.J. was a great balancing act for the coaching staff. But we could see that chemistry between Pop and Coach Carlesimo."

The question is, can Carlesimo or Presti of them use that familiarity with San Antonio to their advantage?

"Knowing what plays they are going to run is not going to be a challenge," Carlesimo said. "Stopping them from executing is going to be a challenge."

Scouting the Sonics: Seattle has lost three in a row and are still winless (0-5) at KeyArena this season. Seattle will again only have 11 players available. Luke Ridnour (partially torn left quad), Robert Swift (right knee tendonitis) and Johan Petro (lower back strain) will not play.

Chris Wilcox (sprained left ankle) and Kurt Thomas (right hamstring strain) should be available today. Thomas, who has played Duncan well in the past, should see a lot of time defensively against Duncan.

Seattle, which is giving 108 points a game – second worst in the league, and turning the ball over 18.6 times a contest, will have its hands full against a veteran team like the Spurs.

In order to stay close Seattle needs to shoot the ball well, turn the game into a track meet in order to get some easy scores and defend the basket.

One thing working in Seattle’s favor is the Sonics manage to stay in games at home this season, losing by single digits in all five losses and having a chance to win in the fourth quarter.

Next: 7 p.m. Tuesday at Los Angeles Lakers, Staples Center.