Tim Duncan, Kawhi Leonard Among Five Spurs Sitting Out Wednesday

The San Antonio Spurs will host the New York Knicks on Wednesday night, but the defending NBA champions will be without Tim Duncan, Manu Ginobili, Kawhi Leonard, Patty Mills and Tony Parker.

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Wednesday’s game against the New York Knicks may have an early preseason-like feel to it, as five key members of the San Antonio Spurs will be wearing the latest in high-end men’s fashion rather than a basketball uniform.

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The Spurs will be without forwards Tim Duncan and Kawhi Leonard and guards Manu Ginobili, Patty Mills and Tony Parker, each of whom will receive a night of rest from coach Gregg Popovich. San Antonio is coming off a 100-96 loss at the Utah Jazz on Tuesday night, which is why Popovich is sitting all but Parker in order to avoid the wear that will come from playing consecutive games in two different time zones.

Parker will miss his third straight game with a left hamstring injury.

Without Duncan, Leonard and Parker, the Spurs will be without 60 percent of its starting lineup, leaving forward Matt Bonner and guard Danny Green as the holdovers. Ginobili struggled in his 28 minutes on Tuesday, shooting just 3 for 17 from the field, although he did add a team-best eight assists.

The Spurs will plug in forwards Aron Baynes and Boris Diaw to replace Duncan and Leonard, while Corey Joseph will receive his third straight start in place of Parker.

Forwards Kyle Anderson, Jeff Ayres and Austin Dayne did not play on Tuesday, yet each is expected to see minutes against a 4-19 Knicks team that enters Wednesday with a nine-game losing streak.

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