Lakers take a trip to the Emerald City

The Lakers are No. 7 in the Western Conference playoff race and lead the eighth-seeded Sacramento Kings by 1 1/2 games.

On Thursday, Tim Duncan scored 20 points and pulled down 13 rebounds to lead the San Antonio Spurs to an easy 96-85 win over the Lakers at the Staples Center.

Kobe Bryant finished with a game-high 23 points and seven rebounds in the loss to San Antonio for the Lakers, who lost for the first time in five games. Lamar Odom ended with 13 points, while Sasha Vujacic netted 11 in defeat.

Los Angeles is 17-21 as the visitor this season.

The SuperSonics also try to get back on the winning track this evening, as they open a three-game homestand. On Wednesday, Yao Ming posted 29 points and 10 rebounds to lead the Houston Rockets to a 115-87 win over Seattle at the Toyota Center.

Earl Watson scored 20 points in the loss to Houston for the SuperSonics, who had a two-game winning streak halted. Chris Wilcox scored 16 points, while Mike Wilks netted 12 and All-Star Ray Allen shot just 1-of-13 from the field and finished with 10 points in defeat.

Seattle is 18-17 at KeyArena this season. The Sonics will also host Portland and Houston on the current stand.

This is the third and final meeting of the season between the clubs. In the two previous contests, the teams split a pair of contests at the Staples Center.

The Lakers have won two of their last three at Seattle.