Spurs Have Depth to Maintain No. 1 Spot Sans Parker
Sean Deveney - SportingNews.com
Mar 03, 2011
Well, the Spurs almost knew something like this had to happen. They have played 59 games and used the same starting lineup 58 times, with the one change-up coming when coach Gregg Popovich wanted to rest Manu Ginobili and decided to bring him off the bench. It's a lot to ask for a team to stay so healthy over 82 games. The Lakers are the only other team in the league to have used just six starting players so far this season.
Just before it was learned that guard Tony Parker would be out for two to four weeks with a calf injury he suffered Sunday against Memphis, Ginobili was ruminating on just how fortunate the Spurs had been in terms of injuries. "Health, a bunch of things together," he said. "First, we have gotten lucky. Health is a big factor, always. We have been healthy and nobody missed a game."
Now, though, the Spurs are facing the prospect of at least eight games without Parker, and perhaps as many as 15. San Antonio does have arguably the best backup point guard in the league, George Hill, who is averaging 11.1 points and shooting 40.6 percent from the 3-point line. Hill played big minutes when Parker was injured last year, and he also started some games alongside Parker. He averaged 15.3 points when he was in the starting lineup.
And there's also Ginobili, who has thrived when needing to make up for Parker's absence. When Parker went out on Sunday, Ginobili went bonkers, scoring 18 of his 35 points in the fourth quarter, leading Popovich to say, "Manu was fantastic. I don't know what else to say other than he's fantastic."
That wasn't a surprise -- Ginobili has done this before. Last year, when Parker was out for the month of March, Ginobili averaged 22.1 points, shot 51.7 percent from the field and 44.9 percent from the 3-point line. Before that, he had been averaging just 14.1 points.
That's why other contenders in the Western Conference are not exactly licking their chops when it comes to Parker's injury. The Spurs are 49-11, five games better than the Mavericks and seven games ahead of the Lakers. Their schedule is challenging, starting with Tuesday's game in Memphis (a 109-93 loss). It also includes two games against the Heat, one against the Lakers and one in Dallas on March 18, by which time Parker could be back.
Even without Parker for the coming weeks, though, the Spurs have the depth to keep both Dallas and L.A. at arm's length.
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