Spurs, Popovich getting the point

Gregg Popovich needed a point guard who could score. Damon Stoudamire wanted to play in meaningful games.

They may have found the perfect match to keep the San Antonio Spurs on track while they play without Tony Parker.

Stoudamire signed with the Spurs last Saturday and moved right into the starting lineup, scoring 11 points on Tuesday in a victory at Indiana. The point guard hadn’t played in a game since Dec. 30, before he fell out of the rotation in Memphis so the Grizzlies could focus on their young players. And it had been much longer since he played in one that really mattered.

So he went for the defending champions instead of teams such as Phoenix, Toronto or Boston, hoping he can spend a couple of years with a team that could contend for a championship in all of them.

“Out of all the teams I had to choose from, this team, the fact that they won it is obvious, but the fact that they’re always in the middle of it every season,” Stoudamire said. “I wasn’t looking for maybe trying to just be here short term. I was hoping I’d come in, do what I have to do, and then they’d look at me more long term.

“So that factored in a lot in the decision that I made, but the fact that they’re always in the middle of it every year playing for something, that was big for me.”

Parker is out of the lineup with a bone spur in his left ankle, and Popovich has no plans to rush him back. But with the NBA finals MVP’s 19.2 points per game on the bench, the Spurs needed to find some more scoring, which backup Jacque Vaughn doesn’t provide.

So Popovich turned to Stoudamire, who has averaged 13.8 points during his 13 NBA seasons.

“We wanted to add offense to the group because we intermittently sputtered at the offensive end of the court and wanted to add someone who definitely added offense,” Popovich said. “Since Tony was a little bit hurt and Jacque had been hurt earlier in the season, we just thought we better hedge our bets there and have another point guard.

“And so when he became available, it answered both needs to have a third point guard in case of injury and someone who would add to the offense.”

Pacers coach Jim O’Brien expects Jermaine O’Neal back sometime after the All-Star break -- in an Indiana uniform.

O’Neal has been sidelined since the middle of last month with a bone bruise in his left knee. The trade deadline comes just four days after the All-Star game, and O’Neal’s name will surely surface in some speculation before then.

The star forward was mentioned in deals with the Lakers and New Jersey Nets during the summer, but O’Brien doesn’t think he needs to worry about talking to O’Neal about the topic in the coming days because he’s not playing.

“If somebody was playing for you, you’d wonder where their mind-set is if there are trade rumors out there,” O’Brien said.

O’Neal hasn’t even played 70 games in a season since 2003-04, but O’Brien doesn’t think the current injury will limit the former All-Star once he returns.

“When he comes back, we expect him to be full go. There’s nothing that our people have seen that it’s a long-term problem,” O’Brien said. “I fully expect to have him back at the end of this year and if he’s a Pacer for two more years of his contract or longer than that, I fully expect him to play at 100 percent.”