Duncan might be sixth man ... if he plays
Associated Press
PHOENIX -- Tim Duncan as San Antonio's sixth man?
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As Duncan inches closer to returning to the court, that's one
possibility Spurs coach Gregg Popovich is considering.
"I can see us bringing him back in a substitute role and giving
him limited minutes," Popovich said before his team went through a
light workout Friday, "because we've playing a certain way now for
a while while he's been gone.
"Maybe it would be wiser to bring him into that flow rather than just start him out in it and he's not really comfortable with what we're doing yet. ... That's a heck of a sixth man, that's for sure."
With the best-of-five series between San Antonio and the Phoenix
Suns tied 1-1, the defending NBA champion Spurs must win Game 3
Saturday or find themselves on the brink of first-round elimination. Duncan's participation will be a game-time decision.
The MVP in last year's finals missed the final four games of the
regular season and both playoff games in San Antonio with torn
cartilage in his left knee. After a limited workout Thursday, he
said there was no swelling -- an encouraging sign -- but he refused
to speculate on the possibility of playing Saturday.
"I think we're going to decide that tomorrow," Duncan said.
"I feel pretty good, but I haven't had any contact yet, so I don't
know what we're going to do."
The decision will be a collective one involving doctors, coaches
and Duncan.
"I don't want to go out there and injure myself more," Duncan
said, "and I don't want to go out there and hinder the team any
not being 100 percent or close to that."
Teammate David Robinson said Duncan, who becomes a free agent after this season, must take a cautious approach.
"I just don't want him to come out there and not be healthy,"
Robinson said. "With your knee, that's not something that you play
with. His career is going to be long-term with a lot of success.
That's what I'm really concerned about. ... I want him back when he
can come in and give me 25 or 30 minutes and do the things that he
does. But I don't want him out there limping and not being able to
score and do some of the thing that he does best."
The Spurs' Avery Johnson said he doesn't think Duncan will play
in the series at all.
"I don't anticipate Tim playing for another 10 days," Johnson
said. "Hopefully we'll still be alive in 10 days. But right now,
my thinking isn't on him, it's on Kevin Johnson and Penny Hardaway and the Phoenix Suns."
The Suns say their preparations won't change, Duncan or no
Duncan.
"It just doesn't affect us right now really," Phoenix coach
Scott Skiles said. "Our game plan is our game plan. We can't be
concerned about that. We have to go on and be concerned about
ourselves."
The Suns' Rodney Rogers, who missed Thursday's practice with
back spasms, was stiff and sore Friday but said he would play
Saturday.
Hardaway is nursing a sore left knee but will play. Hardaway's
presence has been critical for the depleted Suns, who are without Tom Gugliotta and Jason Kidd because of injuries.
Skiles said he'd like to have Hardaway bring the ball downcourt
a few more times to try to breathe some life into the Suns'
sputtering offense.
"But I mean, how much can Penny do for us?" Skiles said.
"We're throwing him the ball every time down the court. He's
playing good defense. He's active out there. He's scoring. Now
we're going to ask him to bring the ball down the court?
"He's playing 40-some minutes a game. We're asking him to do so much, I'm concerned about him being there at the end of the game to make plays when we need them."
The Spurs' Jerome Kersey, out for the playoffs with a dislocated right foot, underwent surgery on Friday to have two screws
inserted. His loss could mean some matchup advantages for the Suns,
especially if Duncan doesn't play.
While all the attention has been on Duncan, Kidd quietly has
been working out with the team trainer as he comes back from a
broken ankle. On Friday, Kidd went through his most extensive
workout yet and said he is feeling great. He's aiming for a return
in the second round, if the Suns make it that far.
But he wouldn't absolutely rule out coming back for Game 4 Tuesday night.
"Tuesday is a long shot," Kidd said. "I just don't want to
have any pain. Tomorrow morning will be key because this is as much
as I've done. It's been six days that I've been running on it,
that's a good sign. I haven't had any pain."
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