- Close
ESPN Senior Writer- ESPN.com senior writer since 2007
- Around The Horn panelist
- Formerly at Los Angeles Times
- Close
ESPN Staff Writer- Lakers and NBA reporter for ESPN.
- Covered the Lakers and NBA for ESPNLosAngeles.com from 2009-14, the Cavaliers from 2014-18 for ESPN.com and the NBA for NBA.com from 2005-09.
LOS ANGELES -- Tim Duncan will not play in the San Antonio Spurs' game Friday night against the Los Angeles Lakers, Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said.
Duncan, who suffered a chest contusion against the Memphis Grizzlies on Wednesday night, underwent a CT scan in San Antonio on Thursday that showed he had no fractures in the area. Popovich did not provide an estimate for Duncan's return.
With Kobe Bryant still out with an Achilles injury, this will be the first time the Spurs and Lakers have met with neither Bryant nor Duncan playing since Nov. 22, 1996. Duncan was still at Wake Forest at the time, and Bryant didn't get any minutes in that game.
Lakers guard Steve Nash, who sat out Wednesday night at Golden State in the second night of back-to-back games, will play against the Spurs, coach Mike D'Antoni said.
Nash said the Spurs' model of resting aging stars Duncan and Manu Ginobili during back-to-back sets is evidence the plan has merit.
"It isn't easy," Nash said. "I told Mike even before the game, even though we decided [Wednesday] morning, I was like, 'I'd like to play.' But I'm also [in my] 18th year.
"You realize this is a long season, and Mike made some good points to me about being conservative at this point, and for now I want to do everything I can just to get myself in a better physical position and hopefully be able to contribute more."
Information from ESPN's Stats & Information group was used in this report.
