Tag: Gregg Popovich

McDyess: ‘Now is where the playoffs start’

The four injured Spurs who missed Monday’s game against Portland all were working to a goal of playing in tonight’s pivotal game against Boston at the ATT Center.

Coach Gregg Popovich again said that Tony Parker (left patella contusion) and Antonio McDyess (lower back contusion) both were closer to recovery than Tim Duncan (sprained left ankle) or Manu Ginobili (left quadriceps contusion.) Both Parker and McDyess have said they could have played Monday night in an emergency situation.

Popovich said that Duncan and Ginobili will be game-time decisions.

McDyess said the additional rest has helped the team as it prepares for the stretch run with eight games left in the regular season.

The Spurs will be attempting to turn around a season-worst four-game losing streak. In each game, they squandered a fourth-quarter lead.

McDyess said having the time off has helped the team refocus after the recent slump.

“That’s tough, but we look at it it as a positive because we were in every game,” McDyess said.  “Now is where the playoff starts. We need to focus down the stretch and get the rest of these games.”

Tonight’s game starts a tough finishing kick for the Spurs, who will play their final eight games during the next 14 days. Included will be three groups of back-to-back games.

McDyess said the upcoming schedule is the primary reason he is pushing the start of the playoffs ahead a couple of weeks.

“It’s now,” he said. “You can’t just jump into the playoffs and feel like we’re going to start in the first game of the playoffs. We’ve got to prepare ourselves before. That’s why we say that this is when the playoffs start.”

Duncan in need of good vibes vs. L.A.

LOS ANGELES — When the Spurs take on the L.A. Lakers tonight at Staples Center, there are no guarantees Tim Duncan’s name will be in the starting lineup.

With the Spurs’ perch in the Western Conference playoffs locked up, Gregg Popovich could opt to sit his 34-year-old star power forward for one or both of the final two games.

If anyone in silver and black could use a positive outcome against the two-time defending champions, however, it is Duncan.

Repeatedly flummoxed by the Lakers’ twin 7-footers, Andrew Bynum and Pau Gasol, Duncan has scored a total of just 12 points on 5-of-26 shooting in three games against the Lakers this season.

“They clog it up inside,” Duncan said. “They do a good job challenging shots. With their length, they can do that.”

Duncan’s struggles against the Lakers could come into play if the teams meet in the playoffs. So far, there has been no direct correlation between his statistical line and the Spurs’ fortunes against L.A.

Twice, Duncan has turned in identical two-point, 1-for-7 performances. The Spurs won the first game 97-82 on Dec. 28 and lost the second 99-83 on March 6.

For now, Duncan remains more focused on rounding into playoff shape after missing five games since late March, four of them with a sprained left ankle. In six games since his return, Duncan — who acknowledges the ankle is still not 100 percent — has averaged 15 points and 7.8 rebounds.

“I expect Timmy to play at his best once the playoffs come,” point guard Tony Parker said. “He’s always done it. I don’t see why it would be different.”

To rest, or not: Before leaving San Antonio, Popovich had not decided which of his regulars to play tonight against the Lakers. The entire roster will make the season-ending trip to Los Angeles and Phoenix, which leaves his options open.

“We haven’t thought about dealing with it any differently at this point,” Popovich said. “We’ll see as the games approach exactly what we might do.”

Several players have expressed an interest in fending off Chicago for the top overall record, which would probably require the Spurs to beat the Lakers and the Suns.

“We’ve played this well all season, we’d love to finish out atop the NBA,” Duncan said. “We’re going to try to do the best of managing minutes and winning games, and doing that all at the same time.”

Scoreboard watching: The Spurs locked up the West’s No. 1 seed last week, giving them plenty of time to handicap which team they might face in the first round.

The No. 8 seed remains up for grabs between Memphis and New Orleans.

The Spurs could still draw either team in the first round, as well as Portland, which currently is sixth.

Memphis’ game tonight at Portland should go a ways toward sorting out the seeding.

“If anybody can figure it out, let me know, because it’s kind of confusing,” Ginobili said. “We just worry about ourselves and just wait.”

Thanks to Utah, Spurs’ magic number down 2

Hours after the Spurs polished off a 97-90 win over Atlanta on Tuesday night, the Utah Jazz provided them more good news on the opposite coast.

Thanks to Utah’s 86-85 victory over the Lakers at Staples Center, the Spurs are now 3 1/2 games up on Los Angeles with four to play, their magic number to clinch the Western Conference’s top seed winnowed to two games. Without any further assistance from the Lakers, the Spurs could sew things up on their upcoming homestand that begins Wednesday against Sacramento and concludes Saturday against the same Jazz who just won in Los Angeles.

Neither opponent is in playoff contention, but as the Jazz proved Tuesday, sometimes teams with nothing to play for play like there’s nothing to lose.

Asked after beating Atlanta about the importance of securing the No. 1 seed, Spurs coach Gregg Popovich shrugged.

“Everybody talks about it every year,” he said. “We’ve had it and won and had it and lost. The team best usually ends up winning.”

Still, the Spurs certainly won’t turn down home-court advantage through the Western Conference bracket, or the the prospect of avoiding both the Lakers and Mavericks until at least the conference finals.

As recently as Sunday, as the Spurs’ lead in the conference dipped to just 1 1/2 games over the Lakers, it appeared certain Kobe Bryant and Co. would overtake them. A scheduled April 12 visit to the Staples Center loomed large.

Now, the Spurs have a chance to wrap up seeding by the end of the week, which would allow Popovich to rest any players who need it on the season-ending trip to Los Angeles and Phoenix.