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Spurs Face Quick Turnaround
Tony Parker had a bag of ice stuck inside the top right side of his shorts as he shuffled with a pronounced limp through the exit tunnel at Arco Arena and into the oversized closet that serves at the visitors' locker room.
Behind him was Manu Ginobili, displaying a limp of his own that was nowhere near as pronounced as Parker's.
Both guys looked to be in no shape to do anything except collapse.
But unfortunately for the San Antonio Spurs, that's just too darn bad.
The league office has decreed that they'll be back in action at noon local time on Sunday for Game 1 against the Dallas Mavericks, a situation Sacramento Kings coach Rick Adelman described as a "travesty."
"Who in the world made that schedule? They worked all year to get homecourt advantage, and they play a tough series and they're going to make them play 36 hours later? To me that is just a travesty. And if they lose (Game 1), then you can put it on someone in New York, because that's just not right.
"And I know Pop wouldn't say it, but that's probably how he feels, and so maybe I can say it. I don't think they can fine me," Adelman said.
Spurs coach Gregg Popovich actually did have something to say about it when I stopped him in the hallway outside the Spurs' dressing room, and though he wasn't nearly as forthright about things as Adelman, he didn't exactly sound enthused.
"We've never had anything like this, and the worst thing for us this year was back-to-backs, we were terrible, and this is basically a back-to-back," Popovich said. "So we only have one choice, and that's to try to use it as fuel, be angry about that kind of time slot and show that out on the court with our play, and not whine about it or be deflated about it."
The quick turnaround will likely be most problematic to Parker, who aggravated a thigh contusion in Game 6 against Sacramento but still poured in a team-high 31 points. Bruce Bowen added four 3-pointers among his 16 points and held Bonzi Wells to 17 points, eliminating the effectiveness of the one player who had become Sacramento's best offensive weapon in this series.
The Spurs got only 15 points (on eight shots) and six rebounds from Tim Duncan, who continued to fade into the background on what has become Parker's team. That fact may not have resonated nationally yet, but it'll become clearer and clearer to more people the longer the Spurs stick around.
"He's young, he's not on the radar screen like LeBron, Kobe, Nash, Nowitzki, Elton, those kind of guys. But if he keeps playing like this his time will come in the future, because he's a pretty special kid," Popovich said.
But he's also a special kid with a very sore right thigh, and he isn't going to have much time -- about 33 1/2 hours, to be exact -- to rest that injury before the next round begins.
Whether that truly qualifies as a travesty is open to debate. But for now, it's Parker and the Spurs' reality, and they're going to have to deal with it.
-- Chris Sheridan at Arco Arena in Sacramento
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This pretty much sucks. It's a pleasant suprise to see Adelman on the Spurs side. Really don't know much about him, but I hope he gets an extension. The Kings are perenially in the playoffs these days and they will be a force next year.
And Pop's comments are on point.
But damn @ doing double duty.
ps Eva let Parker rest you sucubus!
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