Same starters for Seattle tonight: Earl Watson, Kevin Durant, Jeff Green, Chris Wilcox and Johan Petro.

Seattle coach P.J. Carlesimo said he considered starting Nick Collison in place of Petro, but was concerned Collison would get into early foul trouble against Shaquille O'Neal.

Starters for Phoenix are Steve Nash, Raja Bell, Grant Hill, Amare Stoudemire and O'Neal.

Carlesimo said he believes Mouhamed Sene is playing better since being recalled from the Idaho Stampede. However, because Sene still has not mastered Seattle's offensive and defensive sets, don't expect him to see a lot of meaningful minutes.

"I think he’s improved a lot," Carlesimo said. "If he just becomes a real effective rebounder with what he can do with shot blocking, that alone would make him a valuable player. Forget that he needs to score and all of that stuff. He wouldn’t have to score a point if he were an NBA rebounder and NBA shot blocker, he could make a living and make us a lot better just doing those two things."

Carlesimo said he would like to see Sene work on improving his rebounding skills when he goes back down to Idaho for the NBA Development League playoffs.