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M*A*S*H units Duncan out for Tuesday's Game 4 against Suns
Posted: Tuesday May 02, 2000 08:54 PM
PHOENIX (AP) -- With Tim Duncan out and the defending NBA champion Spurs facing elimination, David Robinson knows he will have to do some heavy lifting. "I don't really have a choice," Robinson said, "but I expect the other guys to come through and play well." San Antonio, trailing 2-1 in the best-of-five series, has to beat the Phoenix Suns on Tuesday night to stay alive in the NBA playoffs. Duncan, out with torn cartilage in his left knee, finally was cleared for a full contact workout Monday. But his knee became sore Tuesday morning, and Coach Gregg Popovich decided that he will not Play Tuesday night. "It was quite sore after practice [Tuesday morning], which was about what we expected," Popovich said. Even before Tuesday's decision, Robinson hadn't been optimistic about Duncan's prospects for playing. "I know he's dying to play," Robinson said, "but if you can't run, you can't play. It's just that simple. He didn't look good the other day." Duncan, out since April 11, said he didn't want to play unless he was close to full strength. "I feel like I want to be out there, but I don't want to be out there and slow everything down," Duncan said Tuesday. "The healing process is coming along pretty well and I thought I did pretty well [Monday], but to go out there and be 100 percent, I'm not." Duncan, who becomes a free agent after this season, might have played his last game for San Antonio. In his absence, the Spurs have reverted to old form, relying heavily on Robinson to do the bulk of the scoring. Robinson had 37 points, three short of his career playoff high, in San Antonio's 101-94 loss in Game 3 on Saturday. But Suns coach Scott Skiles said his team is not conceding Robinson those points while trying to shut down the rest of the Spurs. "I think all of our guys have done a good job on David. He's just having a phenomenal series," Skiles said. "He's unbelievable. The more I look at the tapes, I'm happy with the way our guys are trying to battle him in there. He's just a handful right now." On the Suns' practice court, Jason Kidd went through a halfcourt five-on-five drill Monday for the first time since he broke his left ankle March 22. "We had contact, we went live, but we didn't go up and down the floor," Skiles said. "He looked pretty good. He needs to be re-evaluated. We're in no hurry. We're not going to rush him." Kidd has said all along that he's aiming for a return in the second round, but could he play tonight? "I would say it's unlikely," Skiles said. Coaxed out of retirement when Kidd was hurt, Kevin Johnson will continue to back up starting point guard Randy Livingston, who played just four ineffective minutes in Game 3. "It doesn't really matter," Johnson said. "In my younger days, it would have been great to start. You get a little older, you take them any way you can get them." The Suns are in control now, but one loss can change all that, sending the series back to the Alamodome for a deciding Game 5 on Thursday.
"We're in a great position," Johnson said. "You can't let an
opportunity like this slip away."
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