Duncan Worn Down, but Not Out

"Timmy's been grinding it out on that foot all year," Popovich said. "I'm sure there have been occasions when he's paced himself on his foot, especially on back-to-back [games]. It's a like a sprained thumb: It almost gets healed and you keep banging it. He's going to need the whole summer to heal it."

The Spurs are one of the oldest teams in the NBA, with seven players age 30 or older (Duncan turns 30 on Tuesday), and their age showed in the regular season on the second end of back-to-back games, when they lost 10 of their 19 games this season. Duncan was at his worst on the second end of back-to-back games, averaging just 14.8 points and 8.6 rebounds, but the Spurs won't have that concern in the playoffs, with games spread out over several days.

Duncan doesn't appear to be the same dominant player he once was, but the Spurs dispute claims that there are dents in his game.

"If they don't see someone performing to what they're accustomed to seeing, immediately they go to, 'Well, something's got to be wrong.' But a lot of times, it's been the ineffectiveness on our behalf of getting the ball to him," Bowen said. "That has been more of the problem more than anything else. I wouldn't say that it's been an injury because everybody plays with injuries. Last year, he played with injuries, but he was still effective and nothing was said. He's the kind of guy, he really appreciates when guys do well and he's very supportive and he's not the type of person to say, 'Hey, hey, hey, y'all better get the ball to me or else,' and things like that."

Although the Spurs have relied on different sources for offense and have what was expected to be a deeper bench with the offseason additions of Michael Finley, Nick Van Exel and Fabricio Oberto, Duncan averaged more minutes than last season -- 34.8 minutes compared with 33.4 -- and played more games. Before sitting out the season finale against Houston, Duncan missed one game with the flu. But Duncan said he feels healthier entering the playoffs than he did last season, when two badly sprained ankles forced him to miss 16 regular season games. Parker said that he felt Duncan was at "90 percent."

"I feel very good. I'm not at 100 percent, but I'm better than I've been all year," Duncan said. "It was a tough season. My numbers were down, of course, and I've been up and down on the injury front. There were times when I wasn't as confident as others. But I'm ready now, I'm healthy now and I'm ready for the playoffs."

Duncan said his problems with the foot began last summer after he won his third NBA Finals MVP award, and it grew progressively worse as the season wore on. "I played through it. It was more debilitating than painful," he said. "It's taken away some of my explosiveness more than hurting nonstop."

Duncan's game, however, isn't predicated on explosiveness. It has always been about his efficient movement and unparalled footwork, which has been understandably absent with a bad foot. For most of the season, Duncan rarely took his patented bank shots or set up in the low post, often settling for outside jumpers. His body language also revealed the frustration. "I noticed it," Popovich said. "I can tell when he turns shots down. When he's open on the perimeter and he turns them down because he feels like he's not shooting that well."

Duncan's struggles, however, haven't derailed the Spurs this season. They went 21-6 when he failed to score 16 points and 10-5 when he shot 40 percent or worse. "It's amazing. I know I had one of my worst years so far. I've been kind of hurt all season. Manu's missed a lot of games. But all in all, it's been a great season for us," Duncan said.

"If people think we're struggling with 63 wins, that's fine. I'll take that every year," Parker said, flashing his sly grin.

When asked if he felt that the Spurs were vulnerable, Duncan replied, "We're as vulnerable as we are every year."