By Jeff McDonald
PHOENIX – Spurs coach Gregg Popovich opted to hold Stephen Jackson out of Tuesday’s 107-100 victory over the Suns, erring as he often does on the side of rest for his older players.
The ultra-competitive 33-year-old swingman promised he wouldn’t fight Popovich on the decision.
On one condition.
“Just as long as they don’t list me as ‘DND-Old,’ ” Jackson said with a laugh.
That was the official designation given Tim Duncan two nights earlier, when Popovich chose to hold the 35-year-old power forward out of a win over Philadelphia. The DND stands for “did not dress.”
The Spurs’ box-score punchline, which earned the team attention on several national sports talk shows, was a collaboration between Duncan and athletic trainer Will Sevening.
“Sometimes it’s more fun just to be totally honest,” Popovich said.
Duncan dressed Tuesday, and took the floor at U.S. Airways Center. Contrary to popular myth, he did not look ancient.
Freshened by two days rest, Duncan produced 26 points and 11 rebounds to lead the Spurs to their fifth consecutive victory.
It marked the first time the Spurs’ Big Three had played together since a March 21 win over Minnesota, which Tony Parker left early with a tight hamstring.
The trio of Duncan, Parker and Manu Ginobili combined for 63 points Tuesday, as the Spurs beat a Suns team sizzling since the All-Star break.
Duncan, who has scored in double figures in every March game he’s played, admitted Sunday’s DND helped him. He just hopes that admission doesn’t make it back to his head coach.
“Honestly, I do feel better,” said Duncan, who was 11 of 16. “I don’t want to say so, because then Pop’s going to start resting me more.”
There was a time when the Spurs, once derided by their own coach as “older than dirt,” might not have been built to win four games in five nights.
Yet with equal parts depth and moxie they’ve been able to keep their winning streak going, even with key players out, even with the daily grind beginning to wear even on younger players.
“Lucky for us, we’re deep,” Parker said. “If somebody’s not playing, everybody else has to step up.”
Tuesday’s game was a throwback of sorts. With some exception, he guys doing the stepping up were the ones with All-Star credentials.
Parker had 12 of his 23 points in the fourth quarter, while Ginobili scored 13. Kawhi Leonard, a 20-year-old rookie small forward rapidly becoming a candidate for a Big Fourth, supplied 14 points and seven rebounds.
Back in the lineup Tuesday, Duncan set the tone early, scoring nine of the Spurs’ first 11 points. By halftime, he had 17 points and eight rebounds, already a better-than-average night’s work for him.
When Duncan drained his first four shots, Parker knew it was going to be a good night.
“You saw it from the get-go,” said Parker, who scored eight points during a 17-6 run in the fourth quarter that put the game away. “He was very aggressive, didn’t hesitate on his shot.”
For the Spurs, the win looked even better in practice than it did on paper.
Even after losing Tuesday, Phoenix has won 11 of its past 16, going from seven games under .500 to the outskirts of the playoff race. The Spurs (34-14) won Tuesday despite a career-best 32 points from Shannon Brown, who drew the start in place of the injured Grant Hill.
The game was there for the taking for the Suns, who led by five in the third quarter but couldn’t stop Parker in the fourth.
“They’ve shown a lot of character,” Popovich said of the Suns. “There was a point in the season where they were having a tough time. They’re playing their best basketball at the right time.”
The Spurs, meanwhile, have been enjoying the best of both worlds, juggling youth and experience. They have been able to win games while keeping older veterans rested during the lockout-compressed season.
The Spurs finish a stretch of five games in six days tonight at Sacramento. They are 12-2 in their past 14 road games, after starting 2-8.
Lesser lights fueled the Suns, who fell to 25-25 after a brief visit above .500.
Brown, who had not topped 21 points in a game the season, had 14 in the first quarter. He finished 11 of 18, and 5 of 10 from the 3-point line, but made only one shot after the 4:51 mark of the third. Marcin Gortat added 21 points and 14 rebounds for Phoenix, which lost its first game at home since March 12.
“You’ve got to be able to win a 120-point game, but you also have to be able to win a 90-point game,” Phoenix coach Alvin Gentry said.
Tuesday, it was the Spurs who won a shootout. They did behind their venerable captain, who on this night was not so old after all.
jmcdonald@express-news.net
Twitter: @JMcDonald_SAEN
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Spurs 107, Suns 100: March 27, 2012
Phoenix Suns’ Shannon Brown dunks over San Antonio Spurs’ Daniel Green (4) during the first quarter of an NBA basketball game Tuesday, March 27, 2012, in Phoenix. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin) (AP)
San Antonio Spurs’ Manu Ginobili (20), of Argentina, dives for the ball in front of Phoenix Suns’ Shannon Brown during the fourth quarter of an NBA basketball game Tuesday, March 27, 2012, in Phoenix. The Spurs defeated the Suns 107-100.(AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin) (AP)
Phoenix Suns’ Marcin Gortat (4), of Poland, gets past San Antonio Spurs’ Tim Duncan for a score during the first quarter of an NBA basketball game Tuesday, March 27, 2012, in Phoenix. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin) (AP)
Phoenix Suns’ Marcin Gortat (4), of Poland, loses control of the ball as he goes up for a shot against San Antonio Spurs’ Tim Duncan (21) during the first quarter of an NBA basketball game Tuesday, March 27, 2012, in Phoenix.(AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin) (AP)
Phoenix Suns coach Alvin Gentry, left, laughs as he talks with San Antonio Spurs’ Tony Parker, of France, before an NBA basketball game Tuesday, March 27, 2012, in Phoenix.(AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin) (AP)
Phoenix Suns’ Ronnie Price (2) gets off a shot over San Antonio Spurs’ Tim Duncan, right, as Suns’ Marcin Gortat (4), of Poland, watches during the second quarter of an NBA basketball game Tuesday, March 27, 2012, in Phoenix. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin) (AP)
Phoenix Suns’ Steve Nash (13) shoots a reverse layup, and misses, in front of San Antonio Spurs’ Tony Parker (9), of France, during the second quarter of an NBA basketball game Tuesday, March 27, 2012, in Phoenix. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin) (AP)
San Antonio Spurs’ Tim Duncan, right, gets ready to dunk as he gets past Phoenix Suns’ Channing Frye (8) and Marcin Gortat, behind Frye, during the second quarter of an NBA basketball game Tuesday, March 27, 2012, in Phoenix. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin) (AP)
San Antonio Spurs’ Tony Parker, of France, scores over Phoenix Suns’ Sebastian Telfair (31) during the second quarter of an NBA basketball game Tuesday, March 27, 2012, in Phoenix.(AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin) (AP)
San Antonio Spurs’ Manu Ginobili, left, of Argentina, strips the ball from Phoenix Suns’ Steve Nash during the fourth quarter of an NBA basketball game Tuesday, March 27, 2012, in Phoenix. The Spurs defeated the Suns 107-100.(AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin) (AP)
San Antonio Spurs’ Manu Ginobili, front, of Argentina, beats Phoenix Suns’ Robin Lopez to the basket for a score during the fourth quarter of an NBA basketball game Tuesday, March 27, 2012, in Phoenix. The Spurs defeated the Suns 107-100.(AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin) (AP)
San Antonio Spurs’ Kawhi Leonard (2) charges Phoenix Suns’ Ronnie Price, left, as Suns’ Sebastian Telfair (31) and Robin Lopez look on during the fourth quarter of an NBA basketball game Tuesday, March 27, 2012, in Phoenix. The Spurs defeated the Suns 107-100.(AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin) (AP)
San Antonio Spurs’ Tim Duncan (21) beats Phoenix Suns’ Marcin Gortat, of Poland, to the basket for a score as Channing Frye (8) and Steve Nash (13) look on during the fourth quarter of an NBA basketball game Tuesday, March 27, 2012, in Phoenix. The Spurs defeated the Suns 107-100.(AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin) (AP)
San Antonio Spurs’ Manu Ginobili (20), of Argentina, dunks against the Phoenix Suns during the third quarter of an NBA basketball game Tuesday, March 27, 2012, in Phoenix. The Spurs defeated the Suns 107-100.(AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin) (AP)
