If you are Steve Nash and you are going to sit out some NBA basketball games, you might as well play soccer

Nobody lives forever and apparently nobody starts most NBA games forever. Steve Kerr is planning to play Steve Nash in only 70 of the teams 82 games. That is the plan anyway.

Steve Kerr is a disciple of Gregg Popovich, the coach of the Spurs. His theory is to keep his star players rested for the playoffs.

Looking at Tim Duncan’s minutes, Popovich has rested his big guy more and more over the course of the first half of the season — when the Spurs often get written off — and then works him up to full speed in the second half, when they “coincidentally” move to the top of the standings.

Nash played in all but one of the regular-season games last season.

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Should be interesting to see if Steve Kerr pulls this off. Steve Nash often looks like the energizer bunny on the floor and it is hard to see him wanting to sit any games out let alone 12 of them.

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Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili celebrate with victory over New Orleans

Image details: San Antonio Spurs v New Orleans Hornets – Game Seven served by picapp.com

In the NBA, some of the natural order has been restored.

The game, like a lot of these games, came down to the final few shots. This in spite of the fact that the Spurs had a big third quarter lead.

Ginobili scored 26 points, hitting four free throws in the final minute, to send the Spurs to the Western Conference finals with a 91-82 victory Monday night.

Parker added 17 points, including a crucial jumper in the final minute, as the Spurs held off a late rally to become the first team in this series to win on the road.

“We really believed we had a chance to win on the road here,” said Spurs forward Tim Duncan, who had 16 points and 14 rebounds. “It’s just a lot of confidence. A lot of games under our belt.”
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The old guard will now face the Lakers in the Western Conference finals. Chris Paul will go home knowing the Hornets need maybe one or two more weapons. There is a certain path to the finals and the Hornets have started down that path.

With a nucleus of Chris Paul, David West and Tyson Chandler, the Hornets appear destined for greater things, but now is not their time.

“One thing I want them to remember when they start working out next season is how they feel right now,” said Hornets coach Byron Scott, adding he was proud that his team, which did not make the playoffs last season, pushed the Spurs as far as it did.

“You have to go through some things before you can really understand how good it’s going to feel when you get to that next level,” Scott continued. “You don’t go from not making the playoffs to winning a championship. It just doesn’t work that way. … We’re headed in the right direction.”

David West led the Hornets in scoring.

West led the Hornets with 20 points, while Paul and Jannero Pargo each added 18. Chandler had 13 points and 15 rebounds for the Hornets, who cut a deficit as large as 17 down to three inside the final two minutes.

In the end, it was the three pointers that cost the New Orleans Hornets the game.

While the Hornets managed to hold Duncan under 20 points by crowding the inside, his Spurs teammates combined for 12 3-pointers to keep alive their chance to win back-to-back titles for the first time.

“We knew the shots were going to be there. It happened today that we just made more,” said Ginobili, who made four 3-pointers. “We just let it fly.”

NBA Basketball Gregg Popovich factoid - Coach Pop has the highest playoff win percentage of .702.

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Rip Hamilton asks the Squibster if they are playing another contender tonight?

All the talk in Piston land has been the moodiness, technicals, coach arguing, less scoring of Rip Hamilton.

Rip laughs it off.

“I’m never in a lull,” Hamilton insisted. “When I don’t shoot, people think that something’s wrong. We got a lot of All-Stars on this team.” source

Oh, and that boredom thing happens when you go to the Conference finals every year, thank you Joe Dumars.

The Detroit Pistons have a hard time gearing up for games at times with little at stake a month before the playoffs, comfortably positioned as the second-seeded team in the Eastern Conference.

San Antonio brought out Detroit’s best in the final minutes Friday night.

Richard Hamilton scored seven of his 25 points in the final 21 seconds, lifting the Pistons to an 84-80 victory over the short-handed Spurs.

“It’s good to see a team come in here that is going to be vying for a shot at the finals as we are,” Pistons guard Chauncey Billups said.

Seems like everyone had a good time.

“Playing San Antonio, it was like a playoff atmosphere with our fans,” Hamilton said. “And, we had to give them something to cheer about.”

Prince scored 17, Wallace finished with 10 points and three blocks, while Antonio McDyess had six points and a season-high 17 rebounds. Parker scored 26 and Duncan had 20 points.

“It was a really good game of two good teams that went after each other,” Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said.

Sometimes the good teams need something to gear up for in the never ending NBA season.

Good to see Rip back and at it in prime time. Maybe all the talk will calm down.

NBA Basketball Fan Question Is Rip just waiting for the playoffs?

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