Ludden: Duncan injures ankle, listed day-to-day

[Kori Ellis]

Duncan injures ankle, listed day-to-day

http://www.mysanantonio.com/sports/b...112c565e5.html

Johnny Ludden
Express-News Staff Writer

David Robinson sat in his customary second-row seat. Avery Johnson arrived in the second quarter, having flown in from Houston where his Dallas Mavericks had lost earlier in the afternoon. Steve Kerr commuted from San Diego.

While Sean Elliott's former teammates came from near and far to honor him Sunday night at the SBC Center, the present-day Spurs had added reason to celebrate.

Tim Duncan didn't need crutches to attend the postgame ceremony.

Manu Ginobili kicked off the evening's festivities by scoring 31 points to help the Spurs hold off Utah for a 101-94 victory in front of a sellout crowd of 18,797. But on a night devoted to retiring Elliott's No. 32 jersey, the team was happy enough to learn Duncan will wear No. 21 again sooner rather than later.

Duncan sprained his right ankle less than four minutes into the second half. Though he did not return after being helped off the court, the injury was classified as a grade 1 sprain, the least serious.

X-rays were negative, and team officials said the ankle was stable. Duncan, who missed two games after spraining the same ankle last month, is considered day-to-day, though coach Gregg Popovich doesn't expect him to play Tuesday against New Jersey.

Duncan's teammates had reason to fear the worst after he landed on Rasho Nesterovic's foot while trying to corral a rebound under Utah's basket. He immediately grabbed his right foot and looked to be in significant pain.

"When I saw Tim go down," said Elliott, who works as the team's TV analyst, "it took me right back to when Dave broke his foot."

Robinson missed the remainder of the 1996-97 season after breaking his foot. The Spurs hope Duncan won't be sidelined more than a week.

"I'm not worried at all," Tony Parker said. "Since I've been here, we've had to learn to play without Timmy."

The Spurs did well enough without him Sunday. At the time of Duncan's injury, they trailed Utah 59-58.

Bruce Bowen, signed to replace Elliott after the 2000-01 season, shot like his predecessor, scoring 12 of his 18 points in the second half. Ginobili added six points in the final 30.5 seconds, all from the foul line, to close out the victory.

"He doesn't feel pressure," Popovich said of Ginobili. "He relishes it."

After back-to-back turnovers left the Spurs clinging to a 93-91 lead, Ginobili drove into the lane, pulled up and made contact with Utah guard Raja Bell. Bell, who played Ginobili physically for much of the game, was called for a foul, which the Jazz protested.

"There's not a lot that I can say to you tonight," Bell said, "that will allow me to keep my money in my pocket."

Ginobili made both of his free throws. He and Parker combined to make six more when the Jazz were forced to intentionally foul. For the night, the Spurs made shot 90.6 percent (29 of 32) at the foul line.

"That's a gross anomaly for the San Antonio Spurs," Popovich said. "That's unbelievable."

Popovich was similarly impressed by the play of his bench, particularly Beno Udrih. After Popovich yelled at him to "Compete!" in the second quarter, Udrih did just that. He scored 11 points, made 5 of 7 shots and distributed three assists, helping steady the Spurs after Utah erased their 14-point first-half lead.

"He looked for his shots," Popovich said. "He didn't just go out there and try not to make mistakes. I thought it was his best performance in a while."

The Spurs will need more of the same if Duncan is unable to play this week. After facing the Nets, the Spurs travel to Phoenix on Wednesday.

"(Duncan) told me he was feeling pretty good," Ginobili said. "He's probably going to miss a couple of games, but it wasn't that bad."

For that, the Spurs are glad. None of them wanted to tarnish Elliott's night.

[Kori Ellis]

Notebook: Popovich trying to give Mohammed more rest
Web Posted: 03/07/2005 12:00 AM CST

Johnny Ludden
Express-News Staff Writer

http://www.mysanantonio.com/sports/b...112c57499.html

Spurs center Nazr Mohammed missed his second consecutive game Sunday.

Mohammed strained his groin last month when he was playing for the New York Knicks. He aggravated it in Wednesday's victory over Toronto.

"It's still bothering him," Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said. "I don't want to get another big guy hurt. We don't want to play him until he's ready to go."

Moonlighting: Sean Elliott was thankful he had to work Sunday as the Spurs' TV analyst because he was so nervous about the postgame ceremony.

"That was my sanctuary," Elliott said.

The drama of the game also helped soothe him.

"I was worried about Tim (Duncan) getting hurt and worried about the game," Elliott said. "That kept me preoccupied."

We know the routine: Each of Utah's players congratulated Elliott as they walked onto the court for warmups.

The Jazz also played at the SBC Center last season when the Spurs retired Robinson's No. 50.

Ace assistants to the rescue: It was a little more than five minutes into the fourth quarter when Popovich summoned lead referee Scott Foster to the scorer's table and lobbied for about a minute to make sure a foul that had been called two minutes into the third quarter had been awarded to the proper player.

The offensive foul had been committed with 9:50 left in the third period by Tony Parker, who wears No. 9, but the foul was announced as being on Rasho Nesterovic, who wears No. 8.

Popovich didn't say anything at the time of the erroneously announced foul, but after Duncan went to the locker room with a sprained ankle, Popovich needed to make sure Nesterovic, his starting center, wasn't in danger of fouling out of the game.

The fact that backup center Mohammed was dressed, but not available, added to the urgency.

Popovich's assistant coaches had noticed the discrepancy in the foul being announced on Nesterovic after Parker committed it, and after Nesterovic picked up what would have been his third foul with 7:24 left in the fourth, Popovich took the time to make sure the error was corrected.

"I thought it could be important later in the game because we were really going to need Rasho badly later," Popovich said. "Fortunately, they got it straight.

"My crack assistants caught it. You don't think I'd catch something like that, do you?"

SB-Three Center: Utah forward Matt Harpring declared the SBC Center one of the toughest arenas in the league for visiting teams to try to steal a victory, and gave some of the credit to how Spurs' fans respond to 3-point baskets.

"This is a tough place to play," Harpring said. "It's sort of like every shot is a 3-pointer, and then the crowd goes wild, and it's just a hard place to play."

The Spurs have the league's best home-court record at 27-2.

[T Park]

good to hear that the SBC Center is becoming tough to play in.

Too bad Duncan will miss the game VS Phoenix, would've been nice to send a statement to Phoenix by thumping them in Phoenix.

good practice for the rest of the team.

Look forward to Duncan back VS Denver saturday.

[TDfan2007]

I really hope Tim suits up for the phoenix game, I don't think that we can win w/out him against phoenix.

[Kori Ellis]

The article doesn't say that Duncan will miss the Phoenix game.

It says he's day-to-day. Pop said the Spurs will know more after Duncan is evaluated tomorrow.

[T Park]

I doubt he does play.

Grade 1 sure, but 2 days removed back??

Doubtfull.


Hopefully, Mohammed would be good enough to go, although I doubt that too.

[Kori Ellis]

Pop didn't sound like Mohammed was even close to healthy. I'd imagine Tim is back before he is.

[Aggie Hoopsfan]

"He doesn't feel pressure," Popovich said of Ginobili. "He relishes it."

Exactly why I want the ball in his hands at the end of games.

It says Tim will miss NJ, not Phoenix. They'll rest both him and Nazr Tuesday for the Nets, I expect to see both on the floor for the Suns Wednesday.

[TDfan2007]

my prediction is that Pop won't play Tim against NJ but Tim will play against Phoenix.

[grjr]

I predict a Kiwi sighting.

[usckk]

No. Kiwi is in the IR.

[Kori Ellis]

They can bring him off IR without someone else going on because they have an open roster spot (if he's been on for his five game requirement).

[Solid D]

They can bring him off IR without someone else going on because they have an open roster spot (if he's been on for his five game requirement).

Sean Marks has been on IR for 6 games.

[foodie2]

"There's not a lot that I can say to you tonight," Bell said, "that will allow me to keep my money in my pocket."

Raja Bell has long been on my list, along with Najera, of borderline dirty players (that flagrant on Manu was pretty blatant) and now he goes on my Whiny list as well.

[S4Spur21]

I Dont want to take any chances with timmy. Let him sit out and get healthy for the playoffs, which matter more.

[td4mvp21]

Knowing Duncan and the mildness of his injury, play in the Phoenix game most likely.