Down Goes Tim Duncan... For a Little While

Eternal MVP candidate Tim Duncan went down in fairly frightening fashion during Sunday's game against Portland, as depicted above. Fear among Spurs fans might only be trumped by fear among... the Spurs.

"It's tough to see somebody go down like that," Francisco Elson said. "He's very important to us. It was kind of a scare. Hopefully tomorrow we'll find out more."

Duncan has an MRI scheduled for Monday, says the Associated Press. Until then, San Antonio is telling us Duncan will miss time -- not a ton, apparently, but not a negligible amount. Of course, any missed time for Big Fun is worrisome for the Spurs; no offense to the towering tandem of Fabricio Oberto and Francisco Elson, but... yeah. The Spurs' system doesn't work without TD.

You might think Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili would be the statistical benefactors of a protracted Duncan absence -- and Parker did drop 27 and 8 Sunday -- but the rest of Spurs roster looks as good as they do precisely because of Big Fun in the middle. And regardless of what he means for the SAS offense (which is "a ton"), losing Duncan seriously damages the defense... which has been underwhelming by SAS standards (13th in the league) this season. If Duncan misses a month or so, hopes of another 60-win season could evaporate, no matter how smooth the Manu- and TP-led offense looks.