Tim Duncan played 24 minutes against the Bobcats on Saturday and had 11 points, two rebounds, two assists, one steal and three blocks. Even in limited minutes due to the blowout, Duncan still turned in a nice line with the defense. He has 2.4 blocks per game this year and ranks sixth in the league. Coach Pop is going to cause some heartache, but his owners have to be feeling good.

David Stern on Tuesday defended his $250,000 fine against the Spurs for sending Tim Duncan, Tony Parker, Manu Ginobili and Danny Green home before a game against the Heat. Stern said the Spurs did a disservice to the rest of the league with their actions and didn't follow the proper protocol in notifying the league or the media about their decision. Stern also said it wasn't about a "coaching decision" and maintained he has no problem with Gregg Popovich. Glad we got that settled and hopefully this is the last we'll hear about it.

Tim Duncan returned in style after Thursday's DNP-CD, finishing a win over the Grizzlies with 27 points, 15 rebounds (six offensive), four assists, one steal and one block. Duncan has seemingly reversed the flow of time this season, averaging 18.4 points, 9.8 rebounds and 2.5 blocks, but Gregg Popovich wasn't backing down from his decision to bench four key players on Thursday. "In our case, this month we've had 11 away games," said Pop. "We've had an eight-day trip and a 10-day trip, and we're ending it with four [games] in five nights. I think it'd be unwise to be playing our guys in that kind of a situation, given their history." The decision, logical as it may be, cost the Spurs $250,000.

The NBA has fined the Spurs $250,000 for sending stars Tim Duncan, Tony Parker, Manu Ginobili and Danny Green home before Thursday's road game in Miami on Thursday night. Hopefully this will close the book on 'Pop vs. Stern,' although a new precedent has been set regarding benching healthy players. It will be interesting to see how things go near the end of the season when teams start resting stars in preparation for the playoffs.

David Stern said the Spurs will face "substantial sanctions" for resting their players on Thursday. "I apologize to all NBA fans. This was an unacceptable decision by the Spurs. Substantial sanctions will be forthcoming," David Stern said. It's fair to say that there wouldn't be such an outrage had the game not been nationally televised. "Substantial sanctions" might be this year's "basketball reasons" for Stern. Stay tuned for how the NBA fines the Spurs for managing their team.

Gregg Popovich is holding Tim Duncan, Tony Parker, Manu Ginobili and Danny Green out of Thursday's game against the Heat to give them a night of rest. There's always the risk that Popovich will rest his key players without warning, but it's still a surprise to see him hold them out of a matchup against the Heat. Tiago Splitter, Gary Neal and DeJuan Blair are among the players who should pick up some extra minutes in what could end up being a lopsided loss against Miami.

Tim Duncan scored 14 points on 7-of-11 shooting with five rebounds, four assists, and two blocks in 23 minutes on Monday. "There'll be times this year when we'll sit him back-to-backs," said Gregg Popovich. "Win or lose, he's not going to play the minutes he played (Sunday)." Duncan logged 41 minutes in the Spurs' double-overtime game against the Raptors, and has seen about a three-minute jump over last year's 28 mpg. Owners can probably float some favorable sell-high offers over the news few weeks while things are good, but it's time to be very picky.

Tim Duncan continued his strong season with 26 points, five rebounds, six assists and three blocks in 41 minutes against the Raptors on Sunday. Duncan's three blocks raised his season average to 2.4 per game while he's putting up 19 points and 11 rebounds per game. He's off to a monster season, but owners will have to be concerned about Coach Pop resting him in the second half.

Tim Duncan had a big double-double with 20 points and 15 rebounds in 33 minutes against the Celtics on Wednesday. Interestingly, Timmy's 15 boards were more than the entire Boston starting five. He's in the midst of a renaissance season and his owners have to be excited they made a "boring" pick on the former MVP.

Tim Duncan scored 20 points on 6-of-16 shooting (8-of-10 from the foul line) with 14 rebounds and two blocks in the Spurs' loss to the Clippers on Monday. Duncan was already carrying plenty of load to start the year, and the injury to Stephen Jackson is just one more reason for the Spurs to lean on the future Hall of Famer.