Gregg Popovich | SAN ANTONIO SPURS TICKETS

Spurs soaring in weekly rankings check

It’s funny how much national attention an eight-game winning streak can provide.

We’re seeing that in the comments about the Spurs in our weekly survey of the pundits who rank the NBA teams each week.

Here are their rankings about the surging Spurs this week.

John Schuhmann,

Ranking: Fifth

Last week: Seventh

Teams ahead: Miami, Chicago, Oklahoma City, L.A. Clippers.

What he said: San Antonio has won (eight) straight, the rodeo trip is off to a great start (including wins in Memphis and Philly) and Manu Ginobili is back. It may be time to include the Spurs among the Western Conference contenders again, especially considering their defense has been much improved during the streak.”

Marc Stein,

Ranking: Second

Last week: Fifth

Teams ahead: Miami.

What he said: “The annual Rodeo Road Trip is generally good to the Spurs, but this one looks like it’ll go down as an all-timer. The Spurs figure to be 5-0 before their next tough test Feb. 18 in Clipperland, Duncan has five straight double-doubles after just five in his first 23 games … and Manu just came back!”

John Hollinger,

Ranking: Fifth

Last week: Fifth.

Teams ahead: Chicago, Miami, Oklahoma City, Philadelphia.

Current seed: Second in Western Conference.

Chances of winning: Hollinger estimates the Spurs have a , a 79.2 percent chance of winning the Southwest Division, a 26.6 percent chance of earning the No. 1 seed in the West before the playoffs, a 25 percent chance of making the NBA Finals and a 9.5 percent chance of winning the NBA title.

Britt Robson,

Ranking: Fourth

Last week: Seventh

Teams in front: Miami, Chicago, Oklahoma City.

What he said: “There seems to be nothing but good news for the surging Spurs. They started (4-0) on their nine-game road trip, saw Tony Parker selected to the All-Star team and welcomed back Manu Ginobili for limited action on Saturday after he’d missed 22 games with a broken hand. Perhaps best of all, they have firmed up their defense, allowing less than the league-average field-goal percentage to seven of their last 10 opponents since New Orleans burned them for plus-50 percent shooting in all four quarters on Jan. 23. San Antonio is now a respectable 14th in defensive efficiency, after an opening month when it allowed more than 100 points eight times. By contrast, the only triple-digit point total against the Spurs in the last 10 games was the 101-100 loss to Dallas when Gregg Popovich played his bench the entire fourth quarter and overtime. Nine players averaged at least 20 minutes during that span — and now Ginobili’s back.

Kurt Helin,

Ranking: Fifth

Last week: Seventh

Teams ahead: Miami, Miami, Chicago, L.A. Clippers, Oklahoma City.

What he said: “Winners of eight in a row (including in Philly) and they get Manu Ginobili back on their Rodeo Road Trip. They are looking like a team that can make a run in the playoffs, but they looked like that last year so we’re hesitant.”

New Big 3 propels Spurs to 11th in a row

By Mike Monroe

SALT LAKE CITY — About to send his team out against the Utah Jazz on Monday night at EnergySolutions Arena without a key starter and a valued reserve, Spurs coach Gregg Popovich was asked how his team would cope.

“We just have to play with whoever is left,” he said.

Those players who remained, even without guard Manu Ginobili and center Tiago Splitter, were enough to score a 106-102 victory that extended the NBA’s longest winning streak of the lockout-shortened season to 11 games. It included All-Star point guard Tony Parker, forward Tim Duncan and reserve big man Matt Bonner, who combined for 63 points, each scoring at least 20.

“Yes,” Duncan said, chuckling, poking a bit of fun at Bonner. “We’re a new Big Three.”

Duncan found easy humor after Monday’s game because the Spurs continue to win regardless of circumstance, but he made certain to acknowledge what Bonner was able to do for a team that could ill-afford to play from the inside out without Splitter, who has been so good in the post this season.

“Matty was key for us tonight,” Duncan said. “He was great for us. They have some talented bigs down there, and to be able to spread the floor and continue to score points for us when we really needed it (was big).

“When he plays like that, our team is that much better.”

The biggest shot Monday came from Richard Jefferson. Scoreless through the first three quarters, Jefferson nailed a 3-pointer from the right corner to give the Spurs a 105-100 lead with 6.5 seconds remaining.

“You just have to have a lot of confidence in yourself,” Jefferson said. “I haven’t shot the ball well or played particularly well lately, but you have to be ready when you get the opportunity.”

When the Spurs departed on their rodeo road trip Feb. 6, they were 16-7 but just 3-8 on the road. Monday’s win was their seventh on the nine-game swing that will continue tonight in Portland, and they already are assured the second-most wins since the annual trek began in the 2002-03 season.

That they were able to overcome a 13-point third-quarter deficit resulted from a resolve that Duncan finds gratifying and slightly amazing.

“Presistence,” Duncan said after putting in nearly 38 minutes after logging more than 41 in an overtime victory Saturday against the Clippers. “We stuck with it. We came out in the second half and didn’t play well, and (the Jazz) got themselves a nice lead, but that shows the character of the team that has shown up in the last 10 or 15 games.

“We’re really starting to turn a corner. We kept on playing, kept on making plays, got in the penalty early in the fourth quarter and kept using it.”

Duncan was on the court for all but 1:07 of the fourth quarter, and Parker worked the final 9:05, directing most of the offensive thrust.

“Tony’s an All-Star and did what he’s been doing for us all year: Scoring, finding people, playing tough defense, being a leader,” Popovich said. “We had a lot of people participate tonight. I thought Tim was his same solid self. What he does for us defensively doesn’t show up, but he rebounded, he scored, and we ran the ball through him for a lot of the game.

“Those two guys were magnificent, and the bench was good again.”

Popovich got a surprise spark off the bench from James Anderson, the second-year guard whose playing time has been limited this season. Though he played just 7??1/2 minutes, he made a 3-pointer in the third period during the rally from 13 down and hit a twisting, left-handed hook shot in the fourth period.

mikemonroe@express-news.net

– Associated Press photos

1 of 12 | Share

Spurs 106, Jazz 102: Feb. 20, 2012

Spurs forward DeJuan Blair (45) takes a shot while defended by Jazz forward Paul Millsap (24) and guard Gordon Hayward (20) during the first half on an NBA basketball game, Monday, Feb. 20, 2012, in Salt Lake City. (AP Photo/Jim Urquhart) (AP)

Spurs forward DeJuan Blair (45) goes for a rebound while defended by Jazz forwards C.J. Miles (34) and Paul Millsap (24) during the first half on an NBA basketball game, Monday, Feb. 20, 2012, in Salt Lake City. (AP Photo/Jim Urquhart) (AP)

Spurs center Tim Duncan, right, is defended by Jazz forward Paul Millsap during the first half on a NBA basketball game, Monday, Feb. 20, 2012, in Salt Lake City. (AP Photo/Jim Urquhart) (AP)

Spurs center Tim Duncan (21) attempts a shot while defended by Jazz center Al Jefferson, left, forwards Paul Millsap, second from right and C.J. Miles (34) during the first half on a NBA basketball game, Monday, Feb. 20, 2012, in Salt Lake City. (AP Photo/Jim Urquhart) (AP)

Jazz center Al Jefferson, left, is defended by Spurs center Tim Duncan (21) during the first half on a NBA basketball game Monday, Feb. 20, 2012, in Salt Lake City. (AP Photo/Jim Urquhart) (AP)

Utah Jazz forward Paul Millsap (24) attempts a shot while defended by San Antonio Spurs forward Matt Bonner, right, during the second half on a NBA basketball game, Monday, Feb. 20, 2012, in Salt Lake City. The Spurs won 106-102. (AP Photo/Jim Urquhart) (AP)

San Antonio Spurs head coach Gregg Popovich argues a call during the second half on a NBA basketball game against the Utah Jazz, Monday, Feb. 20, 2012, in Salt Lake City. The Spurs won 106-102. (AP Photo/Jim Urquhart) (AP)

Utah Jazz head coach Tyrone Corbin argues a call during the first half on a NBA basketball game, Monday, Feb. 20, 2012, in Salt Lake City. The Spurs won 106-102. (AP Photo/Jim Urquhart) (AP)

Utah Jazz forward Paul Millsap (24) and San Antonio Spurs center Tim Duncan (21) jockey for position during the second half on a NBA basketball game, Monday, Feb. 20, 2012, in Salt Lake City. The Spurs won 106-102. (AP Photo/Jim Urquhart) (AP)

San Antonio Spurs guard Gary Neal, left, and San Antonio Spurs forward Matt Bonner (15) reacts after a play during the second half on a NBA basketball game against the Utah Jazz, Monday, Feb. 20, 2012, in Salt Lake City. The Spurs won 106-102. (AP Photo/Jim Urquhart) (AP)

San Antonio Spurs guard Tony Parker (9) works to get around Utah Jazz forward Paul Millsap (24) during the second half on an NBA basketball game, Monday, Feb. 20, 2012, in Salt Lake City. The Spurs won 106-102. (AP Photo/Jim Urquhart) (AP)

San Antonio Spurs forward Matt Bonner, left, shoots over Utah Jazz’s Paul Millsap during the second half on a NBA basketball game, Monday, Feb. 20, 2012, in Salt Lake City. The Spurs won 106-102. (AP Photo/Jim Urquhart) (AP)

Expect lots of ‘small ball’ from short-handed Spurs

By Mike Monroe

SALT LAKE CITY — The Spurs had just lost Manu Ginobili and Tiago Splitter during an otherwise stirring Saturday road win over the Clippers, but the team’s leading scorer and lone All-Star found a way to remain upbeat.

“We’re used to playing without Manu now because we already played 22 games without him,” said Tony Parker, whose 30 points and 10 assists became an afterthought after Gary Neal’s 3-point heroics in the Spurs’ 10th consecutive victory. “In that sense, it’s a comfort, but let me be clear: I still want Manu on the floor.”

Barring a minor miracle, Ginobili won’t be on the floor until after the All-Star break. He returned to San Antonio on Sunday and will have an MRI exam on his strained left oblique (rib muscle) today.

The absence of Splitter — the 6-10 center from Brazil who’s been having a breakout season — might be a greater challenge during the final three games of the nine-game rodeo road trip.

Splitter suffered a strained right calf in the first half Saturday when he pump-faked Clippers All-Star Blake Griffin into the air and drew a foul when Griffin crashed into him as he went up for a shot.

Splitter remained with the team when it traveled to Utah for tonight’s game against the Jazz at EnergySolutions Arena.

The Spurs have not given an update on Splitter’s condition. Based on coach Gregg Popovich’s comments after Saturday’s game, it does not seem likely he would hurry Splitter back into action, especially with the All-Star break coming up this weekend.

The loss of Splitter leaves the Spurs with only three legitimate big men: team captain Tim Duncan, undersized starting center DeJuan Blair and reserve Matt Bonner.

The solution is apparent.

“We’ll probably end up having to play a decent amount of ‘small ball,’?” Popovich said.

An early adapter to the small-ball concept pioneered in the NBA by one of his mentors, Don Nelson, Popovich often has employed lineups this season using only one legitimate front-court player. While he enjoys the tactical advantage such lineups often produce, circumstance has made them a strategic necessity.

After Splitter departed Saturday’s game, Popovich leaned heavily on the 35-year-old Duncan, the 13-time All-Star who has upped his production from last season despite playing a career-low 27.8 minutes per game.

Duncan logged a season-high 41 minutes and 20 seconds in Saturday’s overtime victory and grabbed 17 rebounds, matching a season high.

It was his longest stint in a regular-season game since Feb. 2, 2009, when he scored 32 points and had 15 rebounds in a road victory over the Golden State Warriors. He put in several 40-plus minute performances against Dallas in 2009 and 2010 playoff series, including 42:52 as the Spurs closed out the Mavericks in the first round April 29, 2010.

Popovich ruled out increasing Duncan’s workload, no matter how many games Splitter may miss.

“That wouldn’t be very wise,” he said. “The way he played (Saturday), those minutes, you can’t do that very often. That wouldn’t be wise for the future.”

Duncan is willing to do whatever is asked of him, but he understands the wisdom of conserving his energy for the postseason.

“I’ll give all that I can, but I don’t know what that may be,” he said. “Pop’s always been great about keeping our minutes down, especially in this compressed season.

“We have this halftime coming up with the All-Star break. We have three more games before the break and, hopefully, we can keep it together, whatever that means.”

Like Parker, Duncan believes the young players who thrived during the 22 games Ginobili missed with a hand injury have gained the requisite confidence needed to carry them through this latest misfortune.

“It helps that we’ve been through it already,” he said. “We found a way to get it together and keep it together without guys before. Hopefully, this will be the same.”

mikemonroe@express-news.net