Gregg Popovich doesn’t care about you. He doesn’t care about David Stern. He doesn’t even care about the feelings of his own players. He just … doesn’t … care. He’s Gregg Popovich … b**ch! This is Pop’s theme song (warning … coarse language and keepin’ it real is contained in this song).

The mercurial coach of the San Antonio Spurs didn’t play Manu Ginobili (left quad contusion) in last night’s loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder (107-93). In fact, Tim Duncan and Tony Parker didn’t even play the fourth quarter (thanks to a Thunder 82-64 lead through three quarters). Which means, most likely, Ginobili, Duncan, and Parker will play tonight. We just don’t know yet. This is a second night of a back to back, heck, Pop may rest only the bench in this game and play his starters the entire game. Who knows at this point. He’s Gregg Popovich … and he doesn’t care.

In the last meeting, a 126-100 beat down of the Denver Nuggets on November 17th in San Antonio, the Spurs hit and ungodly amount of three-point shots (16) … because, you know, the Nuggets were a bit awful at defending the three. While the Nuggets have slightly improved their perimeter defense (and I do mean slightly) look for the Spurs to try to take advantage of the Nuggets weakest area (specifically Neal, Stephen Jackson and Manu, if they play) .

While the ever-steady Duncan and Parker will be the major focal point, the Nuggets defense will be a key issue in winning this contest. Pop has a way of looking at where the Nuggets are weakest and exploiting it over and over and over again. The last game against the Spurs was just a continuation of that. Popovich is the best coach in the league, and make no mistake this season (and maybe last season) has been about Pop's ability to maximize his roster and find a way to get the best out of the aging Tim Duncan. These are Duncan's stats so far this season:


2012/2013 NBA Regular Season: Game 26


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19-7 (11-5 on the road)
13-12 (6-1 at home)
December 18, 2012,7:00 PM (MT)
Pepsi Center – Denver, Colorado
TV Altitude / 950 AM / 104.3 FM The Fan
Probable Starters
Tony Parker (maybe) PG Ty Lawson
Gary Neal (could be?) SG Andre Iguodala
Danny Green (potentially?) SF Danilo Gallinari
Tim Duncan (no clue at all?) PF Kenneth Faried
Tiago Splitter (sure…why not?) C Kosta Koufos
Notes
Pounding the Rock Blogs You’re here.
Only Pop knows (seriously, it changes by the minute)
Injuries Wilson Chandler, Julyan Stone (out)
Spurs have played the second most road games in the NBA and they are 11-5. Stat Nuggets’ four game home winning streak has come over the span of four weeks.
FG 3PT FT Rebounds Misc
G M M A Pct M A Pct M A Pct Off Def Tot Ast TO Stl Blk PF PPG
2012 – Tim Duncan 25 30.2 6.8 13.6 49.9 0.1 0.2 50.0 3.5 4.4 79.1 1.8 8.3 10.1 2.4 1.6 0.8 2.5 1.8 17.1