Tony Parker initially believed San Antonio Spurs coach Gregg Popovich would rest his starters in the team’s two upcoming games against the Golden State Warriors. With the game plan Pop used on Monday, Parker is no longer sure.
Popovich used the majority of his roster in an 88-86 win over the Utah Jazz. Because of that, Parker now expects all of the starters to play Thursday night against Golden State.
“I think we’ll play,” he said, per Michael C. Wright of ESPN.com. “Utah, I thought he was going to rest everybody. But we played Utah, so I don’t see any reason we’re not playing Golden State.”
San Antonio’s game against the Warriors will be the first leg of a back-to-back. Pop almost always rests his stars and older veterans for one game in those situations, but he could choose to rest them on Friday against the Denver Nuggets.
“Like I said, before the Utah game, I thought [Popovich] was going to rest everybody,” Parker said. “He said he wanted to play. So if we played Utah, I don’t see any reason now we’re not going to play Golden State. Before, we were going to rest everybody like against Utah and Golden State. But I guess he changed his mind. Everybody’s playing now.”
The Warriors’ loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves Tuesday night may have complicated matters even more. The Spurs now have an outside chance of earning the No. 1 seed in the Western Conference, which could factor into Popovich’s decision making.
Whatever Pop decides to do, you can be sure it will have nothing to do with playing spoiler in Golden State’s pursuit of 73 wins. And if you think it does, go ahead and ask him about it. We all know the type of answer he’ll give.
