With the San Antonio Spurs two games behind the Oklahoma City Thunder for the top seed in the Western Conference entering Wednesday, Spurs coach Gregg Popovich is willing to risk losing his No. 2 spot or his challenge for No. 1 if it means being healthy going into the playoffs.
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By Chuck Cook, US Presswire
San Antonio Spurs coach Gregg Popovich is making sure his veteran star players, such as guard Tony Parker here, are well rested entering the playoffs, a strategy not universally shared.
By Chuck Cook, US Presswire
San Antonio Spurs coach Gregg Popovich is making sure his veteran star players, such as guard Tony Parker here, are well rested entering the playoffs, a strategy not universally shared.
Last year, the Spurs intermittently rested starters and lost All-Star shooting guard Manu Ginobili to a right elbow sprain in the last game of the regular season.
They still finished first in the West at 61-21 but lost to the Memphis Grizzlies in the first round in six games without a healthy Ginobili to become the second No. 1 seed to fall to a No. 8 since the league went to a seven-game format in the first round for 2002-03.
"If you came to me and said, 'You're going to have the first seed, do you want it or not,' then I'm not gonna say, 'No, I won't take it,'" Popovich told USA TODAY Sports. "It's ignorant to say it doesn't matter at all, because you'd accept it.
"But in the end, you don't manipulate. You don't try to win a game or lose a game because you want to avoid this team or that team. In our case we ended up first last year. But with Manu's injury it didn't do us any good.
"Several years we've not been first and we've won championships. Anything can happen come playoff time. You want to have a rhythm. You want to be playing your best ball and be healthy."
Popovich tends to rest veterans Tim Duncan, Tony Parker and Ginobili when San Antonio plays consecutive nights or three games in three days, with their last set starting April 16. Duncan was averaging 28.5 minutes, Parker 33.7 and Ginobili, who has battled injuries all season, 23.6.
Entering Wednesday's game against the Thunder, the Miami Heat's LeBron James logged an average of 37.7 minutes, followed by Chris Bosh at 35.3 and Dwyane Wade at 33.3.
And on the Boston Celtics, another team with a veteran top trio, Paul Pierce averaged 34.4 minutes, Ray Allen 34.2 and Kevin Garnett 31.1.
"We've always done it most of this year," Popovich says of monitoring the minutes of his stars during the lockout-shortened, compressed schedule.
"Timmy, Manu and Tony have probably played less minutes than most quote, unquote stars of other teams over the years just because we think it lengthens their careers and makes them fresh in the end."
The Spurs are 2-1 against the Thunder — the only team with a winning record against Oklahoma City that plays the Thunder more than once — and 2-2 against last season's NBA champion Dallas Mavericks. Popovich still is wary of both.
"You have to give the nod to Oklahoma City (as the best team). The way they play with such energy, they have great talent, they've got depth, and their record shows it," he says. "They look like the team to beat.
"But having said that, Dallas is the NBA champion — and when you've got the experience and leadership they have, you've got Dirk Nowitzki— they're a pretty good bet, also. They've rested guys. They've had some injuries, too. They're retooling. … Down the stretch Dallas will be there."
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