To end the third and begin the fourth, Pop went without TD, TP or Manu. At the time, I thought he was crazy. I can't remember a time he's done that this year in a hotly contested game against a quality team. But Pop ended up being right. By resting Manu a few more minutes then, he made sure Manu had his legs at the end ... and that was obviously important.
However, down the stretch, Pop's timeout management was really confusing. With a minute to go, Pop put Duncan on the bench for a defensive stop because the Nuggets went ultra small. The Spurs get a stop with 45 seconds remaining and hold a two-point lead. With Nene fouled out and the Nuggets using the extremely defensive challenged Harrington at center against Duncan, how does Pop not call a timeout there to feed the hot hand against a horrible defender?
Then after Harrington misses the free throw that could have tied it with 25 seconds to go, I don't understand why Pop called a timeout there. Manu had the ball, the Nuggets had to foul ... what more could he want?
And finally, Pop not calling a timeout with McDyess inbounding and the Spurs up by one with seven seconds to go was another headscratcher. First of all, McDyess is a bad passer. Secondly, the easiest way to lose in that situation is to turn it over under the opponent's basket. Calling a timeout there to get a better passer and get it at halfcourt should have been a no-brainer.
I'll definitely take the win but Pop made some discussion worthy decisions in that second half . . .

