By John Solomon
How the government's punishing of the exposure of official wrongdoing can linger for years
Facing an 0-3 deficit to the surging San Antonio Spurs, the Los Angeles Lakers probably will run out of games in their season before they run out of healthy players.
Duncan sprained his left knee and right ankle in the first half, but the Spurs went on to a 96-86 win over the Washington Wizards on Saturday night for their 10th consecutive victory.
Instead of watching their season-opening winning streak come to a messy end, the New York Knicks served notice that they can't be counted out in the fourth quarter.
We barely recognized Verizon Center on Monday night. The arena was sold out with a loud, energetic crowd. Unlike similar occasions when the basketball court is in place, the throng was virtually unanimous in its allegiance. Nearly every fan rooted earnestly for the home team, which was stocked with All-Stars.
Late Monday night, the U.S. men's Olympic basketball team boarded a plane for London, after defeating the Brazilian national team 80-69 at Verizon Center. The game provided the perfect finale for three days of military-themed events for Team USA in the nation's capital.
Tony Parker scored 28 points and the San Antonio Spurs won their first playoff opener in four years, beating the Utah Jazz 106-91 in Game 1 of their first-round series Sunday.
Tim Duncan is on crutches and the San Antonio Spurs don't know when he'll be back.
Tony Parker's private life has been splashed across tabloids after splitting from his TV star wife. Tim Duncan is playing the fewest minutes of his career and coach Gregg Popovich's big summer addition can't find his way off the bench yet.
Tim Duncan is no longer getting better with age, but he's apparently getting slimmer and fitter.
"I mean 27 points [allowed] in 10 minutes and 42 in [the final] 30 minutes," he said. "It's a huge difference. If we win the gold medal, it will be because of how well we play defensively."
SNYDER: For Team USA, sluggish starts can't become a trend →
"I've been working for this all season. I'm ready," Splitter said. "Of course I'm no Tim Duncan. I'm the new guy here who wants to help the team."
