Spurs’ Tim Duncan: Out for Monday’s game

Once one of the league’s most prolific scorers and rebounders, he is averaging just 8.9 points and 7.4 rebounds this season, even though he has started all 37 games in which he has played, averaging 25.9 minutes per game. The former Portland Trail Blazers star averaged more than 21 points per game in each of the last five campaigns and has four All-Star appearances on his resume.

In any case, sitting the actually-39-year-old Duncan is a classic Spurs tactic meant to get into a fellow contender’s head and prevent them from actually knowing what the San Antonio lineup will really look like until the playoffs.

Perhaps the most anticipated matchup of the season just lost a little bit of its shine.

The Warriors know the Spurs well enough to realize that the news of Tim Duncan being sidelined for the game Monday night is not to be perceived as a sign of San Antonio surrender. Will a San Antonio club that has played big often, with Duncan and LaMarcus Aldridge sharing the floor for 706 of the Big Fundamental’s 960 minutes this season, attempt to force Golden State to reinsert another big by punishing the smaller defenders on the interior and on the offensive glass?

In a certain way, now, this becomes a game impossible for Golden State to “win” and/or for San Antonio to lose. It’s the first time in National Basketball Association history that two teams have accomplished the feat in the same season. Have a tip? Email him at devine@yahoo-inc.com or follow him on Twitter!