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I thought this was going to be a picture looking up from the center of a circle of very tall men.
POP'S PERSPECTIVE:
They almost certainly won't get the No. 1 seed and they're no lock to hold onto the No. 2.
Yet, as always, the San Antonio Spurs won't be too concerned with where they end up, as long as they're healthy when they get there.
That makes it easier for the Spurs to concede the Western Conference to the Los Angeles Lakers, who built a huge early lead in the standings and have never let anyone close to them.
"I think L.A.'s a leg up on everybody in the West,'' San Antonio coach Gregg Popovich said. "They're the best team in the West, and there are probably five or six people behind them - of which we're one - that is chasing them. That's the way it is.''
The Spurs are better off worrying about what's behind them. Five teams entered play Friday within 3 1/2 games of them, setting up the possibility that San Antonio could lose its grip on home-court advantage in the first round. Popovich doesn't seem stressed.
"No one would give away a higher seed if given to them, so you just play each game and try to get better and wherever you end up, you end up,'' he said. "We've had it both ways and won. I think in the end, the best team wins in a seven-game series whether you have home court or not.
"But if it was offered, no coach would give it away.''
They proved they could do without it again last year, winning Game 7 of a second-round series in New Orleans. So while some coaches might overuse their players while trying to win as many games as possible to guarantee they open at home, Popovich won't be one of them. It's why the Spurs didn't have to rush recently signed Drew Gooden onto the floor before he was ready, why they'll take the same strategy with the injured Manu Ginobili, and why Popovich could afford to give Tim Duncan a game off this week to rest his knees.
Those four les show Popovich's team knows what it's doing.
"It doesn't surprise me,'' Oklahoma City coach Scott Brooks said. "He's a terrific coach and it seems like he adds something every game, he adds a different wrinkle. This time of the year, they always seem to play great basketball. He gets them geared towards the playoffs. They've had success because they really play both ends of the court.''
I thought this was going to be a picture looking up from the center of a circle of very tall men.
Either that or a picture of the inside of Duncan's nostrils.I thought this was going to be a picture looking up from the center of a circle of very tall men.
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