Richard Jefferson shook off a string of bad performances in his return to the starting lineup and two key players got some much needed rest.

Given the quality of the opponent, and the nature of the game, extracting any other meaningful insight or trends from last night’s game would be an exercise in futility.

Dunks have been a rare treat for Spurs fans over the past few seasons, so when Jefferson took off from the baseline and put Darko Milicic in a poster, it was an awesome sight. But by the end of the night after watching a virtual layup line against a Timberwolves teams merely waiting for next year, it was almost a desensitizing experience.

That’s not to detract from Jefferson’s night however. Reunited with Manu Ginobili in the starting lineup, Jefferson rebounded from the worst performance of his career with 19 points and continued his renewed aggression on the boards, pulling down nine rebounds.

“I thought Richard (Jefferson) was aggressive the entire game, and he rebounded,”  head coach Gregg Popovich said. “We want him to rebound with that body and at that position. He should do that quite often.”

Ginobili’s insertion into the starting lineup has provided the playmaking needed in Tony Parker’s absence, but has come at the expense of the bench, which has been nonexistent over the past few games. By starting Jefferson again, the team can maximize the pair’s time together and get the most from their struggling small forward.

“I’ve been inconsistent throughout the last few games, the last couple of weeks,” Jefferson said. “For me, it’s all about trying to get a little more consistency with how I attack.

“Pop just keep on telling me to keep being aggressive, keep attacking and good things will happen.”

Popovich’s lineups and rotations have been a mystery for much of the year, further exasperated by Parker’s injury, but this very well could be the lineup we see for the rest of the year barring further injury. It may weaken our bench’s production, but it should enable the Spurs to see more of the Jefferson they expected, as pointed out in a post earlier this week.

It’s little wonder that Jefferson was able to find somewhat of a niche when paired with a resurgent Ginobili off the bench. Over the past several weeks Ginobili has gotten back to drawing that third or fourth defender, moving defenses out of position and opening up Jefferson’s game for the occasional 20-point night.

The Spurs return home tonight for a game against an equally struggling Clippers team with a rested Duncan and Ginobili (25 and 28 minutes each against Minnesota). With a brutal stretch run it’s important the Spurs take care of business and continue to keep finding rest for key players.

The stakes may not have been as high, nor the visiting team as good, but the Spurs put on a throwback performance reminiscent of their first championship run, though probably not in the most flattering sense: an ugly win they will not apologize for.

Manu Ginobili once again carried the Spurs, scoring 28 points while grabbing six boards and five assists and generally willing the Spurs to a victory.  Needless to say, Ginobili is back, something Timothy Varner reiterated (while also pointing out the need for a contract extension) in today’s daily dime.

But Ginobili is providing a reason for league GMs to think twice about thinking twice–he’s regained his super-stud form after two seasons of continuous ankle injuries. His February 2010 numbers ran in lockstep with his career-best work. Since reinsertion into San Antonio’s starting lineup, Ginobili has responded by scoring 38 and 28 in take-notice outings against the Cavs and Knicks, respectively.

Asked if he felt pressured to pick up the scoring slack in Parker’s absence, Ginobili downplayed his latest scoring exploits.

“In the last two games I scored a lot,” Ginobili said. “Some others I’ll score less and try to create for others. It depends on how the opponents guard you.”

For much of the night Knicks coach Mike D’Antoni chose to guard Ginobili with Danilo Gallinari, who is known for his shooting more than his defense to say the least.

But as exciting as it is to watch vintage Ginobili carrying a team again, it was equally disconcerting to see the disparity between the starters and the bench sans Manu.

All five starters scored in double figures, with Duncan pitching in with 18 points on the strength of a 13-point first half. But the bench, who had built up quite a chemistry between Blair, Ginobili and Jefferson until Parker’s injury pressed Ginobili into a starting role, only scored 16 points.

Six for Blair, six for Bonner, and four big points for Malik Hairston, who might have made a case for more playing time, in the fourth quarter. But Jefferson had his first scoreless game since 2006, when an ankle injury took him out, but managed to contribute with seven rebounds and two blocks. Mason managed to contribute even less.

As I pointed out yesterday, without Ginobili, Jefferson struggles to create his own shot (he was 0-2 in 18 minutes). Moving forward, the Spurs must find some way to generate more shots without taxing Manu to run the pick and roll the entire night in the absence of Parker.

Dynamic as Ginobili was, when he wasn’t creating the Spurs offense was a wreck, as evident by the nearly six minutes without a field goal to close the third quarter. But without Parker, as Popovich pointed out before the game, options will remain limited.

“We go to Timmy a little more if he’s out on the court when (Mason or Hill) are at the point, and we run more pick and roll when Manu is at the point,” Popovich said. “It limits the package quite a bit, so it’s usually going to be Manu or Timmy oriented.

“They feel real comfortable with pick and rolls and with Tony out, that’s sort of our continuity. I want to keep the ball in our best players hands.”

Before tonight’s game, Mike Monroe from the Express-News brought up another possible consequence of the lockout: What will it mean for the Spurs and Tiago Splitter?

His point was with a lockout looming, even if offered the full midlevel exception would Tiago Splitter come over to the NBA knowing he will, in all probability, lose a year?

Reports are that Splitter has drawn heavy interest from Real Madrid, as noted earlier, setting up a possible bidding war.

The article mentions the deep pockets of Real Madrid, one of the wealthiest and most successful sports clubs in Europe in both soccer and basketball, and Tiago Splitter’s young age, which would allow him to stay overseas a few more years while still affording him the opportunity to come to the NBA in his prime.

Again, it should make for an interesting summer.

From the Spurs:

The San Antonio Spurs today announced they have signed guard Cedric Jackson from the Erie BayHawks of the NBA Development League to a 10-day contract. Jackson is the 22nd call-up of the 2009-10 D-League season.

Jackson, a 6-3 guard, had a brief stint with the Cleveland Cavaliers earlier this year. He appeared in five games with the Cavs from Jan. 23 to Feb. 12, scoring one point and handing out two assists in nine total minutes. In 30 games with the BayHawks, Jackson averaged 15.8 points, 7.4 assists and 5.1 rebounds in 32.7 minutes. He posted season-highs of 34 points and 13 assists on Jan. 19 at Austin.

According to a tweet from Jeff McDonald of the Express-News, Pop said about Jackson, “he won’t play more than 35 minutes.”

In addition to not playing 35 minutes, tonight Cedric Jackson will not:

• Surpass Manu as San Antonio’s favorite player
• Wear #21
• Complete the Four Horseman Challenge at Chunky’s
• Discuss his favorite Cabernet Sauvignon with Pop
• Successfully integrate Richard Jefferson into the offense

The only movement Jefferson has seen so far this season, however, is his name up and down the lineup card. For much of this season Jefferson has been stationary in the corner, as if he were Bruce Bowen or Sean Elliott before him.

And there are still questions why Jefferson has struggled?

It has been far too simple to say Jefferson is a bad fit or struggled without explaining why. People assume that a scorer in his prime can simply transition into any system without ever taking into account how that player created all his points in the past.

But Jefferson is not a scorer. Scorers are those who, like a Kobe Bryant or Kevin Durant, can create their own offense. Too often people miscast a player once they hit the 20 ppg mark.

Some, like Reggie Miller or Rip Hamilton, were shooters whose system allowed them a lot of opportunities. Others, like Amare Stoudemire, are great finishers who rack up a lot of points on the tail end of plays created by others. But to the point, rarely are these players asked to, or successful at, creating their own offense from a standstill.

For Jefferson, his scoring prowess and skill set can be summed up in one word: movement.

If you want to delve a little deeper into that, just read the man’s own words, courtesy of a recent Express-News story.

“Anybody who watches the game with an intelligent eye can see I was doing a lot of things I had never done over the course of my career,” he says. “I’ve never guarded guys like LaMarcus Aldridge. I’ve never been a swing guy. I’ve never taken the ball out of bounds.

“Keith Bogans was brought in here to play defense and hit corner threes. (Antonio) McDyess was brought in here to rebound and hit pick-and-pop jumpers. You can’t really say that my role on this team is the same role you’ve seen me do the last eight years and be successful.”

“I played in the Princeton offense for six years, a movement offense,” Jefferson says. “Now I’m on a team with a dominant guy like Tim (Duncan), and we have pick-and-roll guards who are quality scoring guards.”

For all Jefferson’s athletic ability, he is not a very creative slasher. He can drive, but only in straight lines. He’s an athlete, but not one with a superb first step or great agility.

For all intents and purposes, he’s a secondary offensive player who excels in exploiting the driving lanes a teammate’s playmaking or the movement an offensive set creates but has trouble creating his own.

Therein lies the problem. The Spurs offensive system of the past decade has simply asked its small forward to stand in the corner and shoot threes. Bruce Bowen was reliable, and Sean Elliott had a quick enough first step to take advantage of defenses that crowded his shot.

Throughout the season, Popovich has tinkered with Jefferson in the post to incorporate him in the offense, but even that is playing more to a capability rather than a strength. In short, handing the ball to Jefferson at a standstill against a set defense was never going to work.

Does that mean I believe the Spurs front office was short sighted in acquiring such a poor fit? Without any insight into the team’s line of thinking, what makes sense is that if the team was not going to move Jefferson around it could at least move the defense.

In last year’s playoff series against the Mavericks, Tony Parker was able to collapse their entire defense. Only, with the rest of the supporting cast being nothing but spot-up shooters, Dallas was able to sell out in chasing shooters off the three-point line without fear of anyone outside of Parker getting to the rim.

In theory, even in a pick and roll offense Jefferson should be able to exploit the scrambling defense created by Parker and Ginobili’s penetration. Rotating defenders create opportunistic driving lanes.

Unfortunately, the Spurs pick and roll attack has not been as dynamic this season with the injuries to Parker and the slow start by Ginobili. Defenders have been more apt to stay at home, turning Jefferson into a spot-up shooter.

It’s little wonder that Jefferson was able to find somewhat of a niche when paired with a resurgent Ginobili off the bench. Over the past several weeks Ginobili has gotten back to drawing that third or fourth defender, moving defenses out of position and opening up Jefferson’s game for the occasional 20-point night.

If Jefferson is to become more than just an expiring contract and valuable trade asset at this point, the Spurs must hope for one of two things.

That Parker returns at some point as a reasonable facsimile of himself, creating the driving lanes that were present in last year’s playoffs. Or that over the offseason the Spurs pick up some of the personnel needed to incorporate more of their motion offense.

Anything less could leave the Spurs, like Jefferson, stuck in neutral.

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The Spurs are down 3 with 9 seconds remaining. Popovich has the clipboard, which usually means a clean look out of the timeout. At this point in the game, Roger Mason Jr. was 0-7 from distance. Manu Ginobili was 6-10, but he had also scored on two long, foot on the line three point attempts. And he connected on a 7th three pointer at the final buzzer, when the game was already out of reach.  In other words, Ginobili was within inches of 9-13. George Hill, it’s worth noting, connected on 2-3 off his long range attempts.

If you want to look at this play in detail, and you should, Sebastian Pruiti has a frame by frame breakdown at NBA Playbook.I agree with Pruit, it was a magnificent play.

Buck Harvey has done a bang up job recounting the post game reaction.

Talking Points

• After the game, Gregg Popovich indicated that the play was drawn up primarily for Roger Mason Jr. Pop’s response on whether RMJ was the go-to guy on the final play: “Yeah, he [Mason] was wide open. He was the guy to go to. That’s what he does.”
• Was Pop right to go away from Manu Ginobili’s hot hand?
• Roger Mason Jr., who was supposed to shoot, passed up an easy pass to George Hill in the corner. Mistake?
• My favorite part of the play is the second screen by Tim Duncan. He has to stretch for it, but he makes it count.
• Manu Ginobili chose a perfect angle on that bounce pass. Intuitive decisions like that make him, perhaps, the best clutch performer in the league. It’s not just about shots made. In the final 3 minutes of any game, he’s seemingly involved in every important play. In this game, for example, just two possessions prior, Ginobili stole the ball from Jawad Williams, which is not that extraordinary. Except that Ginobili was sitting on the floor at the time of the steal. From his seat, literally, he passed to George Hill, who fed Richard Jefferson for a run out dunk. It’s the kind of play very few players think to make, let alone pull off.
• Was Roger Mason Jr. fouled? From my seat, it didn’t look like there was enough contact to warrant a whistle. RMJ was simply doing the smart thing of advertising for the whistle. Joey Crawford was right on top of it, make of that you will.

The 6′11″ center stands in his socks, game shorts and un-tucked jersey in the hallway outside the Toros locker room at the Austin Convention Center talking to Dell Demps. Demps, the Toros General Manager and Spurs Director of Pro Player Personnel, is doing everything he can to reassure Jones that eventually he’ll have a chance to play in the NBA again.

“Up until yesterday when Alonzo got called up nobody from our team, besides me getting a couple of workouts, got any inkling from the NBA,” Jones said. “We have some NBA talent on our team, but nobody can get the opportunity.”

Jones currently leads the D-League in rebounding with an average of 15.6 rebounds per game and is tops in double-doubles with 32 on the season, while the Toros have a 23-13 record and are second in the West Conference. Jones’ 17.4 points per game is fourth on the Toros this season despite not being a focal point of the offense. The majority of his baskets come from offensive rebounds and pick-and-roll situations.

“I more so understand my role when I do get called up, what I’ll get called up for is defense and rebounding,” he said.

It seems like a player with those qualities and awareness of his limits would fit well on an NBA bench, playing minutes. But that hasn’t been the case for Jones.

“It’s frustrating, but if you actually look at it, it’s really been a lot of guards,” Jones said about seeing other D-Leaguers get called up to the NBA. “It’s not like I’m getting passed up by other people putting up a lesser season than myself.”

Jones has been close, though. On February 23 Jones worked out for the Dallas Mavericks, who were short a big man after a finger injury to Erick Dampier. Jones thought signing with the Mavs was a foregone conclusion when he flew up to Dallas for the workout. The Mavs, he said, even went so far as to tell him what time to be at shoot around before their game against the Los Angeles Lakers the following day.

But in the end, Dallas altered course and decided to only offer a 10-day contract to Von Wafer, who was also brought in to workout for the team. Wafer was brought in to fill a roster spot after Dallas’ trade with the Washington Wizards, which netted the Mavs Caron Butler, Brendan Haywood and DeShawn Stevenson.

According to ESPN.com’s Marc Stein, the Mavs were also holding out hope that they could sign Zydrunas Ilgauskas. Ilgauskas was traded from the Cleveland Cavaliers to the Washington Wizards and bought out of his contract. Ilgauskas, though, is expected to sit out the mandatory 30 days and return to the Cavs.

Over the last several days, the relationship between the Toros and San Antonio Spurs has become clearer. San Antonio doesn’t necessarily look to Austin to fill holes on their roster and Toros players aren’t expecting their dreams of the NBA to be achieved in San Antonio. Both assumptions were solidified by Monday’s rumor that the Spurs will call up Cedric Jackson from the Erie BayHawks and Alonzo Gee’s call up to the Wizards for a 10-day contract on Sunday.

“I would love to be a Spur, but I haven’t heard too much from them on that aspect,” Jones said. “Ian Mahinmi is up there and he’s not even getting too much time.”

So instead, Toros players will play under San Antonio’s umbrella but look anywhere for their shot at the NBA. Somewhere where they can showcase their talent and contribute at the highest level in basketball.

“I’m sure I can be at the end of the bench somewhere,” Jones said. “But I’d much rather be out there, being able to contribute, as opposed to just saying that I’m on the team.”

“Defensive transition was really poor in the first half. I thought we did a horrible job with that and we gave away 8, 10, 12 points just because they ran it right down our throat and our transition was God-awful. That was the worst part of the whole game.” Pop was talking about this game, but he could have been describing various aspects of San Antonio’s defense at any given moment this season.

San Antonio’s problem is, in a word, they’re merely mediocre. In the Popovich-Duncan era, the Spurs have never known mediocrity. They’re eleven games over .500, but the mood around the team is that they’re much worse. And maybe that’s true, but that God-awful transition defense wouldn’t look so bad if Pop wasn’t forced to measure the Spurs against the Spurs. One suspects that the pressure to win is only half as strong as the pressure to live up to their own impossible standard.

But that’s too simple. Much of this team is failing, a sentiment described in vivid color by various readers in our comment threads. I want to pick up on my theme that last night’s loss represents the season in miniature and ask what it means going forward.

Losing to an injury-riddled Cleveland squad is more of a defining moment for San Antonio than if they had beat the Cavs at full strength.  The loss simply bore out the tendencies of the previous sixty games, and a win against a LeBron-led Cavs squad would have carried the weight of an outlier. Last night’s loss had the feel of a season-defining game.

“We had a great opportunity, not many teams can come in here and win,” Ginobili said. “LeBron wasn’t playing, Shaq wasn’t there and Jamison didn’t play the second half, so we blew a big one, so we are kind of upset with that.” His tone was more cheerful than the mood in the locker room. The Spurs see more slipping away than a single should-have-won game.

Coming into the season, the Spurs wondered if their core could reclaim previous levels of championship play, if they could return to a high level of dominance? Through 61 games, we can speak to that issue.

Tim Duncan’s numbers are down slightly, but not drastically. He’s still a top 5 big. Tony Parker’s numbers are down significantly, but we have every reason to believe his drop in production is tied to injury, not decline. It’s fair to say he is/could be playing at an elite level if his body was right. And Ginobili? He is, however improbably, back. If last night’s game taught us anything other than this team isn’t getting it done, it’s that Manu Ginobili is capable of unqualified superstar play. Last night he was 38 points of all man.

That’s big takeway No. 1. The core is capable of championship quality play, but the individual parts–the three most important individual parts–are sinking beneath the poor play of the surrounding cast.  That poor cast is big takeaway No. 2.

Other than George Hill and DeJuan Blair, San Antonio’s bench is entirely deficient, if not on paper, than certainly on the court. I wonder if this summer will find the Spurs undoing the moves of last summer, save the draft selection of DeJuan Blair.

That’s big takeaway No. 3. The Spurs desperately need to retool their bench, and moving Richard Jefferson and Antonio McDyess seem like the best starts in that direction.  Easier said than done, I know.

And it’s not just the new faces. 2009-10 buzzer beating hero Roger Mason Jr’s 1-10 shooting against the Cavs was not consistent with his typical percentages, but his performance was consistent with his ability (this season) to step up and help the Spurs when pinched by injury.   Jefferson, McDyess and Mason are all fine players so far as they go, they’re just not getting it done in San Antonio.

For whatever reason, this Spurs team doesn’t work.

In the postgame locker room I asked Matt Bonner what it felt like to live the life of an adjusted plus/minus poster child?

“Wait, adjusted what?” And then Bonner greeted me with the most blank-faced born and brazed on New Hampshire sandwiches stare I’ve ever witnessed, and I’ve seen my share.

For a moment he thought of faking his way through an answer, but finally fessed up. “Wait, what is it, really? I have no idea.”

I rattled off a quick summation in cool sounding stat-boy spiel.

“Really, who keeps track of that?”

But before I could answer, he gave his final word.

“I’m sure it has everything to do with the other guys on the floor. I just try to make my shots.”

Gregg Popovich spoke to the roster vacancy prior to the Cavs game, although he didn’t speak specifically to the Jackson rumor.

“Anyone we sign isn’t going to help us this season,” Pop said somewhat expectedly.

“We’re just hoping to get lucky and discover somebody that might help us down the road.”

This, for what’s it’s worth, doesn’t mean anything good or bad about the Spurs’ relationship with current Toros players (read: Curtis Jerrells). If San Antonio is convinced that any player they sign now won’t help them over the current stretch, what’s the use in calling up a player whom they already know? It makes more sense to play the D-League lottery. Maybe they’ll unearth a body for Training Camp 2010.

So that’s that. Popovich would not commit the Spurs to anything beyond the extended interview process that comes with short contracts.

Killer, right?

Hold that thought a moment.

A lingering curiosity for the current season is why Keith Bogans receives so many minutes in San Antonio’s rotation. Statistically-speaking, there is very little, if any, evidence that he deserves heavy minutes. He has a reputation as the Spurs’ best wing defender, which may be true. But he’s backed his way into the distinction. The Spurs, simply put, lack noteworthy wing defense. The notion of George Hill or Keith Bogans as game-changing perimeter stoppers is something of a myth. Each player has his moments, but neither consistently stifles the opponent.

San Antonio’s lack of a go to wing defender is a glaring personnel issue.

Still, Gregg Popovich rolls with Bogans out of an abiding philisophical conviction, not a statistical one.

“He’s really the centerpiece of the whole thing,” Popovich said.

Centerpiece?

“It sounds strange,” Popovich said. “You’ve got Timmy out there, and Tony and Manu — to say he’s the centerpiece. By that I mean … I like to have a starter who doesn’t need the ball, who gives us a defensive identity … somebody I can say, ‘Go play him. Go do your best to stop him.’ For us, that’s been our style for 12 years.”

More than any other wing, LeBron James demands defensive scrutiny. John Krolik frames James’ statistical dominance this way:

LeBron James currently leads the league with 26.3 wins added. Dwyane Wade is second, with 18.3 wins added. That is an 8-win gap. The size of the gap between James and Wade is the size of the gap between Wade and Marc Gasol, who is currently 18th in Wins added. If the Cavs had lost eight more games, they would be behind the Magic for the lead in the East, and right in the mix with Boston and Atlanta.

James, Wade, and Durant are the only players with more than 15 wins added. Only nine players have half as many wins added as James does so far this season. The gap between James and Dirk Nowitzki, who is currently #8 in wins added, is the size of the gap between Dirk and Dante Cunningham, who is tied for 198th in wins added.

According to EWA, if James was replaced with a replacement-level small forward like Mickael Pietrus, the Cavaliers would be 23-41. That would make them a slightly worse team than the Clippers this season.

Early last decade, the Spurs built their roster with an aim toward beating the Kobe-Shaq Lakers. But the game has changed, and the next decade requires a roster designed to slow the league’s best wings. It’s foolish to think one can stop Durant or James, but Popovich shows the right impulse by insisting on a rotation which features the best possible wing defense.  It’s the single most important defensive consideration facing would-be contenders. But it is, sadly, one question for which San Antonio’s answers are found wanting.

From the press release:

The Washington Wizards today signed Alonzo Gee of the Austin Toros.  Gee is the 21st GATORADE Call-Up of the 2009-10 NBA season, and joins 81 current NBA players with NBA D-League experience.

Gee, 6-6, 220-pounds, has appeared in 35 games, all starts, for the Toros this season, averaging 21.0 points, 6.6 rebounds and 38.2 minutes.  He scored in double figures in 34 games, including a career-high 34 points in a 127-94 victory over the Sioux Falls Skyforce on Jan. 6 in Austin, and recorded four double-doubles.

A member of the San Antonio Spurs at the 2009 NBA Summer League in Las Vegas, Gee was selected sixth overall in the 2009 NBA D-League Draft by the Toros.  Last month, Gee played in the 2010 NBA D-League All-Star game and participated in the 2010 NBA D-League Slam Dunk Competition in Dallas.

Gee is an athletic swing man who may actually see a little playing time with Washington. Gilbert Arenas’ suspension and Josh Howard’s torn ACL removed each of them from the picture this season, so Washington could use another player on the wing.

My opinion on Gee has changed since I began covering Toros games this season. My first impression was that he was a typical scorer and nothing else. But as the season progressed I noticed a willingness to rebound and not only play defense, but learn the finer points of defending professional basketball players.

It’s unknown if he’ll play out his 10 day contract and return to Austin or eventually sign a contract for the rest of the season, but with Gee’s numbers it was just a matter of time before he got a look from a big club.

It doesn’t mean much for the Spurs, save for the fact that they have one less player to look at for the 13th spot on the roster. But my guess is it’s going to be either Dwayne Jones or, after Tony Parker’s injury last night, Curtis Jerrells who gets the call-up.

The APM answer to Tony Parker’s injury, at least in the short term, is to mitigate the loss of Parker with more minutes for Bonner and a variety of three guard units featuring Manu Ginobili.

Winston adds this postscript:

• With Parker out, Duncan, Manu, Hill and Mason have been great. They have a +28 rating in 110 minutes of play. A 5th of either McDyess, Bogans, Bonner or Jefferson work fine.

• With Duncan and Parker out, Blair, McDyess, Manu, Hill , and Mason has a +18 rating in 46 minutes.

• With Manu and Parker out,  a core of Blair, Jefferson, and Hill has a +16 rating in 99 minutes. Many others can fill out the 5.

• With Parker and Hill out, Manu, Bonner and Mason have a  +33 rating in 44 minutes of play.

In other words, the Spurs have several Parker-less combos to build on. “As they progress forward, some good lineups will emerge,” says Winston.

Looking at tomorrow’s game against Cleveland, a starting backcourt of Hill-Mason makes the most sense based on the table above. And three guard units, but not necessarily small-ball units,  of Hill-Mason-Ginobili should enjoy heavy minutes.

According to Winston’s numbers, it seems Keith Bogans is the only current rotation player whose role could diminish because of Parker’s injury.

Finally, the Parker injury might force the Spurs to fill their 13th roster spot with a point guard. Curtis Jerrells, phone your office.

Jeff McDonald:

Parker fractured his fourth metacarpal while scrumming for a loose ball in the final seconds of the second quarter. For all intents and purposes, the injury will cause Parker to miss the rest of the regular season — after the game, coach Gregg Popovich said his starting point guard would be out “about six weeks.”

San Antonio won this game in the second quarter, when their bench went on a scoring spree to which Memphis would never answer.

Gregg Popovich began the second quarter with a lineup of Tony Parker, Roger Mason Jr., Richard Jefferson, Matt Bonner and Tim Duncan. That lineup ran off a 20-6 spurt, including 4 three point field goals. The score was 42-34 before Gregg Popovich called a mid-quarter timeout to sub Manu Ginobili and George Hill for Mason and Parker. But the damage was already done, and the Spurs simply maintained their lead from that point forward.

This victory served as a reminder that when the Spurs hit their threes, they’re very difficult to beat. The team shot 42.9% on the game, with Hill, Mason, Jefferson, Bonner and Ginobili contributing to the effort. If Mason Jr. and Matt Bonner continue to play well, it will ease the loss of Parker. And the Spurs must be intrigued by the increasingly steady play of Richard Jefferson, whose bench performance led the team in points and rebounding.

Richard Jefferson’s best play of the season has come in the last two weeks, and all from the bench. It will be curious to see how Gregg Popovich accounts for the loss of Tony Parker. It’s doubtful, given their strong bench play, that Pop will seek to fill Parker’s starting role with either Ginobili or Jefferson. Both players are flourishing in their current roles. Why mess with that? At the same time, Parker’s absence means the Spurs’ starting unit will require ball handling and scoring, and one wonders if Roger Mason Jr. is up to the task.

Monday’s game against Cleveland provides a different sort of intrigue than previously thought. Prior to Memphis, the Cavs game was a chance for the Spurs to measure themselves against the league’s best team. Now, it marks the start of San Antonio’s push to stay in the playoff chase despite the loss of Tony Parker.