DENVER - Little did the Spurs know that when they brought forward-center Ian Mahinmi back from his injury rehab assignment with the NBA D-League's Austin Toros, and sent forward Anthony Tolliver to Austin, they would find themselves short of big men just four days later.
Power forward Kurt Thomas was not with the Spurs against the Denver Nuggets on Thursday, having flown back to San Antonio immediately after the team's charter plane landed at Denver International Airport so he could be present for the birth of a healthy baby daughter. Mahinmi was unavailable because of a strained left ankle, and Ime Udoka, who often guards power forwards when the Spurs use a small lineup, was back in San Antonio recovering from a bout with the flu. The Spurs entered their game with only three legitimate big men: Tim Duncan, Matt Bonner and Fabricio Oberto.
"We thought we could get away with four 'bigs,'" Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said before Thursday's tipoff. "We didn't plan on three."
No demotion: Spurs rookie point guard George Hill did not play in the second half of Tuesday's loss to the Pistons, but it was not because Popovich was unhappy with anything he had, or had not, done in the game.
Hill had 11 points in 19 minutes Thursday.
"It's something that a coach deals with from time to time," Popovich said. "It was 60-58 late in the third quarter, with three minutes left. Then, we made some foolish plays, missed some shots and their aggressiveness got to us. I thought at that point maybe it would be better to have Jacque Vaughn in the game. He hadn't played in a while, and you want to keep players in the mix. Even if you haven't played somebody, it's good to keep them up. It's like watering a plant. You don't want it to die on you."
Empathy for Mitchell: Both Popovich and Nuggets coach George Karl expressed their unhappiness at former Raptors coach Sam Mitchell's dismissal.
"After a number of years we all kind of get numb to it," Popovich said. "It certainly saddens each of us, because over a period of time you get to know the people, and they're all good people and good coaches."
