By Douglas Holtz-Eakin
The young drop coverage to avoid higher premiums
The Miami Heat have LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh. The Spurs have dominated for years with the trio of Tim Duncan, Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili.
Gregg Popovich can rest easy. Manu Ginobili is just fine.
NBA Commissioner David Stern said Wednesday his $250,000 fine of the San Antonio Spurs was justified because the club went beyond what league owners agreed was a reasonable approach to resting healthy players.
Gregg Popovich sent his best players home, deciding they reached the end of the road before the trip was over.
The San Antonio Spurs will be punished by the NBA for their decision to send four top players home and not make them available to play in Miami against the Heat on Thursday night.
For nine of the San Antonio Spurs, a six-game, nine-night trip was ending in Miami on Thursday.
LeBron James turned away from his teammates gathered in the center circle and waved to the fans as if to say: "See you Sunday."
No looking ahead to the medal round yet. Not when Argentina is the next opponent for the U.S. men's basketball team.
The U.S. Olympic men's basketball team wore the throwback uniforms of the 1992 Dream Team on Sunday. The Americans' play was much different.
Down and nearly out less than a week ago, the Oklahoma City Thunder are riding a momentum shift to the brink of the NBA finals.
Kevin Durant sat quietly in the visitors' locker room, his head down and his eyes closed, a pair of oversized headphones on his ears. It was less than two hours before the Oklahoma City Thunder would face the San Antonio Spurs in the pivotal Game 5 of the Western Conference finals, and the D.C. native was the very picture of the calm before the storm.
Spurs guard Manu Ginobili is back in the starting lineup for Game 5 against the Oklahoma City Thunder on Monday night.
As Manu Ginobili was finishing up his answer to a reporter's question, Tony Parker walked up behind him, put both hands on his shoulders and provided his teammate an escape.
Manu Ginobili scored 26 points and the San Antonio Spurs won their 19th in a row to tie the NBA record for longest winning streak kept alive in the playoffs, beating the Oklahoma City Thunder 101-98 to open the Western Conference finals on Sunday night.
Maybe they'll finally get a challenge this time.
"It's not my style," Ginobili said. "I thought about it the previous games before the end of the season when I was staying here and my teammates were on the road. Just to give a different view to some fans, I think it could be nice and different, but it depends on every individual what they want to tweet or talk about."
"I didn't picture myself scoring," Ginobili said. "I pictured myself playing, contributing, getting a couple of assists, steals or something like that, but I didn't think I was going to be able to score much, so I was surprised."
