The wait has not exactly been killing Tim Duncan. The Los Angeles Lakers come to town tonight for the first time since winning their 15th NBA title last June, providing the Spurs with a vivid reminder of what they once were and still hope to be again.
It is a game most Spurs fans circled in silver and black the day the schedule was announced, and one Duncan — the team's captain and designated even keel — has been looking forward to for almost a whole 48 hours.
“Since last night,” Duncan deadpanned before practice Monday. “8:30ish.”
For others in the organization, including those who pull the strings and those who sign the paychecks, tonight's measuring-stick game against the NBA's best team has been a longer time coming.
When Spurs general manager R.C. Buford and coach Gregg Popovich took their team in for its extreme makeover last summer — adding Richard Jefferson, Antonio McDyess, Keith Bogans, Theo Ratliff and a whole lot of pennies to the payroll — they did so with the Lakers on the brain.
“They're the champions,” Tony Parker said. “They're the team we have to catch.”
In a sense, today is weigh-in day for the Spurs, a chance to stand back-to-back against the team they've been chasing since June, when Kobe Bryant hoisted the Larry O'Brien Trophy in the middle of Orlando's Amway Arena.
Nearly every move the Spurs have made since tracks against their pursuit of the champs.
They traded for Jefferson, in hopes of adding offensive punch. They signed McDyess and Ratliff, in hopes of giving themselves a fighting chance against the Lakers' supersized frontline. They acquired Bogans, in hopes of making him the Kobe stopper — or, at least, the Kobe slower-downer — Bruce Bowen once was.
“You always look at the best in your league and say, ‘If we're playing them in the playoffs, how do we match up?” Popovich said. “That's where you start.”
The Lakers should provide the Spurs with a formidable litmus test. L.A.'s 29-8 record, though cooled since an 18-3 start, remains tops in the NBA.
Bryant, nursing a fractured index finger on his shooting hand and coming off a 4-for-21 performance against Milwaukee, entered Monday's slate as the NBA's top scorer at 30.1 points per game. Adding to Bryant's air of indestructibility, he has averaged 32.3 in 15 games since the injury.
“They have the whole package,” Manu Ginobili said. “We really want to become that kind of team.”
There is one caveat in the Spurs' quest to test themselves against the defending champs.
Lakers forward Pau Gasol, whose arrival in February 2008 tipped the balance in the Western Conference, is doubtful with a left hamstring strain. This season, the Lakers are 10-5 without him.
Given what the Spurs hope to discover about themselves tonight, they would just as soon Gasol gets off his treadmill and plays.
The Spurs' previous test runs against the NBA's elite, for the most part, have not gone well. They are 3-11 against teams at or above .500 and 19-2 against everybody else. Though a win over L.A. would count just once in the standings, it would carry more significance than a win over, say, New Jersey.
“Confidence-wise, it will help,” Duncan said. “To see things working will help. It's a process. Obviously, it's one every single one of us wants to accelerate as fast as possible, but it takes time.”
Added Popovich: “You want to get to the Finals and play for a championship. We haven't been there the last two years now. It can get frustrating, but if you hurry it or skip steps, you're not going to be there.”
Tonight, the Spurs will find out how many steps they've come since June. And, perhaps, how many more they have to go.
A big night, whether the wait has been eight months or 48 hours.
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