Tim Duncan Playing At Another Level

Mar 16, 2013; San Antonio, TX, USA; San Antonio Spurs forward Tim Duncan (21) celebrates a score with Boris Diaw (33) during the second half against the Cleveland Cavaliers at the AT

You can say what you want about the style of the San Antonio Spurs but one thing is for certain, they have one of the best coaches to ever grace the NBA and their play reflects the type of person that he is.  Also, when you have a player like Tim Duncan, who had a chance to play with one of the best centers in the league in David Robinson, you really can’t go wrong.  Duncan has been with the San Antonio Spurs his entire career and as did David Robinson, he surely will retire a Spur. The talk lately, around all of San Antonio is the recent play of the ‘Big Fundamental’.

Duncan has been on a tear in recent games for the silver and black.  To me, this seemed to be the Tim Duncan that we see in the playoffs.  Mind you, he is productive during the regular season but once the playoffs roll around, he kicks it into another gear.  With Tony Parker going down, he surely has taken that leadership role and the ‘my team’ title to heart and has carried the Spurs to wins where he scored 30 points while grabbing 12 rebounds in a win against a scrappy Cleveland Cavaliers team.  The game before that, he poured in 28 points and grabbed 19 rebounds.

One area that may cause for a concern to Spurs fans is the minutes in which Duncan has played.  In those two wins against the Cavaliers and the Mavericks, he played 35 and 36 minutes.  We know that Popovich has always watched the minutes that he plays his starters, especially the veterans.  Though those minutes are high for Duncan, in those games, he did not look tired at all.  He looked rejuvenated.

His teammates are stepping up with the play of Duncan.  Think about it.   You see your leader, a player that has been with a franchise his whole career, in most part people would think he is done because of his age, and he comes out and plays with the best of them still scoring at a high rate and playing defense at a high rate, what will the outcome be with others?  They will want to contribute to this as well as it being carried over to them.

Tim Duncan is doing just that.  He is playing his game.  He is not doing anything out of the ordinary.  Duncan looks to continue his strong play when the San Antonio Spurs host the Golden State Warriors on Wednesday.