Spurs notebook: Recovery time wanes as rest days cut to 1
Web Posted: 04/30/2005 12:00 AM CDT


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After tonight, the Spurs won't have the luxury of having consecutive days to rest. Before the series' first three games, the team has had breaks of three, two and two days.

The down time has given Tim Duncan a chance to let his right ankle heal.

Manu Ginobili also has had enough time to recover, allowing him to play at his usual frenetic pace. He struggled to maintain his energy late in the season when given little time to rest.

"It's been good for us, without a doubt, because every day that goes by, you're getting a little bit healthier, and ankles and things are healing," Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said. "So I'm sure it's a help, it's just hard to quantify."

The teams will have only one day between games the remainder of the series, though Bruce Bowen isn't worried about the compressed schedule.

"During the season we have back-to-back games and sometimes we play four games in six nights," Bowen said. "There's nothing you can do about it."

Motivated and ready: The Spurs credit their disappointing Game 1 loss to Denver as the inspiration for Wednesday's 28-point victory.

"When we lost the first game, I think it was more of a wake-up call than anything," Robert Horry said. "Guys knew they had to come out and play hard. I know it sounds funny, but the key thing is you have to respect your opponent."

Ginobili expects to see a similar response from the Nuggets tonight.

"We have to try to have the same focus, the same anger, we had the other night, Ginobili said. "You can't avoid them being aggressive. There's nothing you can do about it. You just have to be as aggressive as them."

On the mend: Devin Brown and Rasho Nesterovic received more of a workout Friday than they did in Wednesday's game.

"We'll see how they look (today)," Popovich said.

After ending the regular season on the injured list, Brown and Nesterovic each played limited minutes in Game 2. Popovich doesn't expect to immediately give them a bigger role.

Lineup change downplayed: Nuggets coach George Karl wasn't about to tip his hand Friday about his starting lineup for Game 3. After implying on Thursday that he was considering a lineup change — most likely replacing DerMarr Johnson in the starting lineup with Greg Buckner — he played it coy.

"My son and daughter are coming in tonight," Karl said. "I'm going to talk to them about it and see how they feel."

Passing grade: Karl said the Nuggets' most pressing need in Game 3 may be a willingness to share the basketball.

"If we get 25 assists tomorrow night and play a game with the pass a little bit more, we'll be all right," Karl said.

Friendly visit: Former Spurs center and broadcaster Coby Dietrick, along with his brother and son, were Karl's guests at the Nuggets' practice session on Friday.

Dietrick and Karl were close friends when they played for the Spurs from 1973-78.