No Duncan but Spurs Win an Ugly One

Now will the cavalry finally ride over the hill?

Once again without Tim Duncan, the defending champion San Antonio Spurs circled the few wagons they had left and fought off the Phoenix Suns in another unlovely game, 85-70, Tuesday night as David Robinson, who used to do this a lot, scored 25 points with 15 rebounds, five assists and three blocked shots

The first-round series is tied, 1-1, going to Phoenix for Game 3 . . . which isn’t until Saturday. Stay tuned for four more days of speculation on whether Duncan will play.

“There’s no way I can do something early, say he’s going to play or not play,” said Spur Coach Gregg Popovich. “But, you know each day we hope for improvement . . .

“As I’ve said, if he’s medically able to go, he’s going to want to go. I mean, he’s dying right now, he wants to be out there so bad. But it’s just not smart.”

Let’s put it this way, this series needs help. The Suns are averaging 71 points a game in it and have actually won a game.

Duncan has been sidelined for two weeks because of a cartilage tear in his left knee, and the locals are getting restless. The San Antonio Express-News’ Jim Dent wrote a column Tuesday that ran under a headline that read: “Old Schoolers Contend Forward’s Heart Weak, Too.”

Adding insult to indignity, a TV reporter named Don Harris, following up the story for the local NBC outlet, noted Duncan was a free agent, adding, “You can question his heart but not his brains.”

Without Duncan and the Suns’ Jason Kidd, Tom Gugliotta and Rex Chapman, the game turned into another low-scoring scrum. The Spurs went ahead to stay with a 17-3 run to close the first half ahead, 51-37, while the Suns missed nine of their 10 shots and turned the ball over four times.

Then came the third quarter from hell, in which the Spurs missed 12 of 14 shots, turned the ball over eight times . . . and lost only five points off their lead as the Suns missed 10 of 15 and turned it over five times.

In other words, the two teams combined to take 29 shots, missing 22, while turning the ball over 13 times.

Phoenix Coach Scott Skiles lamented his team’s “sloppy” offense, which was actually a diplomatic term.

“I’m not much of a consolation guy,” said a somber Skiles of their split here. “We had a chance to put a lot of pressure on the world champions.”

The champions may not have looked like it but, at least, they’re aren’t down 2-0, going to Phoenix.

“Defense is what took us home,” said Popovich, in an understatement. “ . . . That’s what we have to do. There are times when we’re going to sputter offensively.”

Those times are expected to continue, at least until Duncan returns.

“It’s been kind of a little distraction for us,” said Robinson, “because nobody really knows his status. We know he has a problem with his knee and it gets swollen when he uses it. So none of us want him on the floor if that’s what’s going to happen, if he’s going to tear up his knee. We don’t really know what the doctors are saying and at this point, we can’t really worry about it. We just have to play . . .

“I haven’t seen him in any action and that tells me that he’s not ready. If he’s out there trying to practice a little, or even trying to run a little bit--he’s not even trying to run. Which kind of tells me he’s not ready right now.”

Of course, thanks to the new expanded-for-TV playoff schedule, they have four days before they play again.

“You know I hope to have my buddy back,” Robinson said, laughing. “I’m not going to lie to you.”

Let’s put it this way. If there has ever been a series that needed a distraction, this is it.