Spurs get plenty of rest prior to Finals

SAN ANTONIO — Rest is good, but having more than a week off between games may be too much of a good thing.

With the Eastern Conference finals knotted at 2-2, the NBA Finals are set to begin on June 7 — a week from today. That means the Spurs will have eight days between games.

It's a similar situation to the 1998 Finals when the Jazz swept the Lakers in the Western Conference finals but then had 10 days off. The Chicago Bulls were pushed to seven games by the Indiana Pacers that season in the Eastern Conference.

"Oh, man, that's extremely tough," said veteran forward Robert Horry. "You can get too much rest and be too rusty or there are a lot of different things that can happen." The veteran Spurs are the oldest team in the NBA, so perhaps the long layoff will do them good. The Eastern Conference teams — Detroit and Cleveland — could beat each other up over the next week, too.

Then again, having more than a week off could damage the momentum the Spurs have attained through the first three rounds of the playoffs.

"I'll take the rest," said Spurs point guard Tony Parker. "We've got a lot of old guys on our team."

Just because they won't play a game for another week doesn't mean the Spurs will take it easy, however. Their coach, Greg Popovich, won't allow it, and he will start preparing for the Cavaliers or Pistons immediately.

"We will get on it (today) and start watching both teams a little bit more closely," said Popovich.

POOR IMPRESSION: Popovich said having his players dodge things thrown by Jazz fans at the conclusion of Monday's Game 4 was a case of "a few people who create a poor impression."

"It didn't reflect well on Salt Lake City, that's for sure," Popovich told the San Antonio Express-News. "On balance, we know there are idiots in every town who can act like that. We saw some of them (Monday) night." Spurs point guard Tony Parker said, "I got a little beer and popcorn in my face, but that's OK."

MISSING MEMO: Utah center Mehmet Okur had a breakout regular season. He averaged 17.6 points and 7.2 rebounds and earned a spot on the All-Star team.

But his offense all but disappeared against the Spurs. Through the first four games Okur averaged only seven points on 26.3 percent shooting from the field. By comparison, Okur averaged 16.8 points per game against the Spurs during the regular season.

So what was different about the Spurs defense on Okur during the playoffs?

Nothing, according to Popovich.

"More than anything, we have been fortunate (Okur hasn't shot well)," Popovich said.

Okur went 3-for-8 and scored nine points in Wednesday's loss.