By John Solomon
How the government's punishing of the exposure of official wrongdoing can linger for years
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.
Ginobili's shot and an intense defensive effort in the fourth quarter turned what appeared to be a sure loss by the Spurs into the Warriors' 30th straight defeat in San Antonio dating to Feb. 14, 1997.
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.
San Antonio Spurs All-Star Tim Duncan sprained his left knee and right ankle after getting tangled with an opponent and had to be helped off the court in the first half of Saturday night's game against the Wizards.
San Antonio Spurs All-Star Tim Duncan injured his left knee and had to be helped off the court in the first half of Saturday night's game against the Wizards.
Tim Duncan was selected to his 14th All-Star game, Spurs teammate Tony Parker is joining him, and the Chicago Bulls also had two reserves chosen Thursday for next month's game in Houston.
Tim Duncan was selected to his 14th All-Star game, Spurs teammate Tony Parker is joining him, and the Chicago Bulls also had two reserves chosen Thursday for next month's game in Houston.
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.
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.
Nene was nowhere to be found. The Washington Wizards 6-foot-11 center wasn't on the inactive list, but he wasn't at the end of the bench, either. After playing more than 48 minutes total in the last two games, Nene sat out the Wizards game against the San Antonio Spurs on Monday at Verizon Center, a 26-point blowout loss.
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.
"Hopefully we can close this series out on Sunday and give our team some time to rest, get everybody healthy again," Duncan told reporters after practice at Santa Monica Community College.
"It's going to change," Tim Duncan said. "The energy is going to be in their building. They're going to continue to attack. They believe they're due a win, they're due more calls, they're due all kinds of different things, and they're going to come out even harder than they played before. We're going to be ready for that, and we've got to start building a personality on the road."
