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While Popovich will never sing his own praises, his record does: a .681 regular-season winning percentage, four titles, the NBA's longest tenure. Next longest: the Boston Celtics' Doc Rivers, at nine seasons. Over Popovich's 17 seasons, the other NBA clubs have averaged seven head coaches. "He's actually, I think, a little more fiery now, if you can believe that," Duncan tells USA TODAY Sports. "Obviously he's been doing this for a long time, and I don't think his passion has changed. That's tough for the period of time that he's done it. And as I said, I think he's even more fired up now and wants it even more than he did before." USA Today Sports

San Antonio Spurs, Coaching, Gregg Popovich 

"The opportunity to go to the Finals and to win a championship is very rare," star point guard Tony Parker says. "He realizes that and has got that fire from last year, too." USA Today Sports

San Antonio Spurs, Coaching, Gregg Popovich 

The split-second decision backfired after Ginobili was assessed a Flagrant 1 foul, leading to a four-point possession that tied the game and forced overtime. (Flagrant 1s are defined as “unnecessary contact committed by a player against an opponent” per the NBA rule book.) Catastrophic as the call might have been, Ginobili said he had no major problem with the call a day after the Spurs escaped with a 93-89 victory to take a 2-0 series lead. “It was sort of a 2 on 1 or 1 against 0, and I tried to foul him,” he said. “I thought I had him well in the arm. It was not like a dangerous play or anything like that. But I guess it was. “Yeah, I was surprised. I know I grabbed his arm. I kind of hold him…but I guess he fell awkwardly. When you have three refs watching a replay 1,000 times, I guess they made the right call.” San Antonio Express-News

Memphis Grizzlies, San Antonio Spurs, Manu Ginobili, Tony Allen, Referees 

Tony Parker’s three-day layoff between Games 2 and 3 of the Western Conference finals will include a precautionary MRI on Thursday to track the progress of his bruised left calf. Parker was initially injured 12 days ago in Game 3 of the conference semifinal series against Golden State, resulting in what he described as “by far” the biggest bruise he’s ever had. “The calf is doing better,” he said. “Doing the MRI…just to make sure. It definitely limited me in the limit me in the last (three) games against Golden State and those two games (against Memphis). “But slowly and surely I’m turning the corner. Those three days arrive at a perfect time for me, so I’m definitely going to use them wisely. I’ll be ready to go on Saturday.” San Antonio Express-News

San Antonio Spurs, Tony Parker, Injuries 

Tom Haberstroh: Shane Battier didn't watch Spurs-Grizzlies last night: "I made homemade gnocchi." Twitter @tomhaberstroh

Memphis Grizzlies, Miami Heat, San Antonio Spurs, Shane Battier 

Jeff McDonald: Tony Parker going for another MRI on his left calf tomorrow. No new injury. Just tracking the progress of his recovery. Twitter @JMcDonald_SAEN

San Antonio Spurs, Tony Parker, Injuries 

Parker checked back in and soon had the lead growing again, ducking under Darrell Arthur to hit a floater and then knocking down a 3-pointer from the right wing to make it 83-70 with 8:14 to play. But then Parker finally went cold, missing five straight shots down the stretch as the Grizzlies rallied back. He had 14 assists in the second and third quarters and went past his career-high for the regular season of 17 during overtime. "He was unbelievable," Duncan said. "I know he's exhausted. We asked a lot of him. He was controlling the ball every time down the floor and he was making every right play there was. "He was finding people, and people knocked down shots for him." ESPN.com

Memphis Grizzlies, San Antonio Spurs, Tony Parker, Tim Duncan 

"He's a Hall of Fame guard, people. He's been around, he's done great things in his career," Hollins said. "He just controlled the pace and got in the paint, found open guys. ... We battled him, though, and we wound up being in the game." ESPN.com

Memphis Grizzlies, San Antonio Spurs, Tony Parker 

Tony Parker once again sliced and diced the Grizzlies in Game 2, and was the biggest reason they had such a massive lead to be able to survive the Grizzlies charge. The Grizzlies were intent on two things going into Game 2: limiting the Spurs' effectiveness in the pick and roll and forcing them to slow down. Parker made both of those efforts fruitless for the first 36 minutes of the game. He found cutters, he found shooters, he drove and kicked relentlessly on his way to 18 assists. It was surgical. "He was unbeliveable," Manu Ginobili said. "He started very well. It was a game where he wasn't partciularly good with his shot. He always found somebody. He was very explosive. He kind of ran out of juice a little bit at the end. But he was the Tony Parker that we need and know. He's always threat for the opponents." CBSSports.com

Memphis Grizzlies, San Antonio Spurs, Tony Parker, Manu Ginobili 

But if they can't do a better earlier on Parker, it won't matter. And the Grizzlies weren't biting when it comes to whether they made an impact on him. "I can't say nothing bad that they did, they're up 2-0," Tony Allen said. "In that first half, he was just unbeliveable," Conley said. CBSSports.com

Memphis Grizzlies, San Antonio Spurs, Tony Parker, Tony Allen 

Ben Golliver: "I think Tony [Allen] just tried to sell it more than anything." -- Tim Duncan on Manu Ginobili's flagrant foul Twitter @blazersedge

San Antonio Spurs, Manu Ginobili, Tim Duncan 

Former Cleveland Cavaliers coach Byron Scott, Golden State Warriors assistant coach Mike Malone and San Antonio Spurs assistant coach Mike Budenholzer are the top candidates, one executive said. Former Phoenix Suns coach Alvin Gentry and Indiana Pacers assistant coach Brian Shaw are being considered as well, another executive said. Los Angeles Times

Golden State Warriors, Indiana Pacers, Los Angeles Clippers, Phoenix Suns, San Antonio Spurs, Byron Scott, Coaching, Brian Shaw, Alvin Gentry, Mike Budenholzer, Mike Malone 

"I'm back to having fun again," McGrady said Monday, sitting on a basket support after Spurs practice. "It's a different type of feeling, to really come in the games and hear the cheers, it's overwhelming. It feels good to have that type of reception -- and for different reasons. Usually I get 'em for scoring 30 points. Now I get 'em just for being a part of this team. "It's a great feeling, man. I'm back to having fun. It's great to be a part of this terrific organization ... I'm living a dream right now." ESPN.com

San Antonio Spurs, Tracy McGrady 

If McGrady had false illusions that he deserved to be starting, it would be painful to watch him reduced to this role when he's still only 33. He's a member of Tim Duncan's 1997 draft class, after all, and you don't see Duncan clinging to the end of a roster. Instead McGrady welcomes whatever chances he can get, appreciates the support that's still out there. "I came to terms of my situation," McGrady said. "I got it. It wasn't in the cards for me to ... continue the health like Kobe and some of my peers that I competed against when I was playing at the highest level. It just wasn't in the cards for me. I had to go through a lot of stuff to realize the situations, the opportunities that I had. Things happen for a reason. The Man Above takes us through things that we sometimes can't understand, but later on in life, we realize some of the stuff that we had to go through. This is a promotion for me. ESPN.com

San Antonio Spurs, Tracy McGrady 

"For so many years, I tried to compete and take a team to the first round ... I mean, take a team out of the first round. It just didn't happen for me. Then I had to go through some things, through my injury. It was frustrating. I'm sitting at home. I live by faith, not by sight. Pop called me out of the blue, and here I am. It's possible that I could be a champion before I leave this game. And that's a beautiful thing. And even though it wouldn't be the type of role that I would like, I'd still be a part of something. "Any minutes you get in a playoff game like that, it's great minutes. For me to want to be on this stage for so many years, it just never happened. But to have this opportunity right now ... I mean, it's great." ESPN.com

San Antonio Spurs, Tracy McGrady 

On offense, the ball got stuck, which allowed the Spurs' defense to recover and wipe out any scoring opportunities for Randolph around the basket. "All the things that we did wrong - no pace, no moving the ball, no running back, no communicating - if we do all that good and we are who we are and we lose, now we're going to see," center Marc Gasol said. "It's hard to get a lot of information about that last game because we just played so poorly." Game 2 provides a clean slate to try again, and Memphis hasn't had two straight poor games yet this postseason. "We adjust, I think, pretty well to teams and this is no different. We have to come out, make the same adjustments, stick to those adjustments and trust them because this team is so disciplined that they're not going to stop what they're doing," Conley said. "They do what they do very well. They're the best in the league at it." CBSSports.com

Memphis Grizzlies, San Antonio Spurs, Marc Gasol 

The Bexar County Sheriff's office is investigating death threats made against Tony Parker. Sunday night, someone called 911 with about five minutes left in the game and made a threat against Tony Parker. The information was passed on to the sheriff's office, who handles security at the AT&T Center. Security was increased immediately, but it was determined there was no immediate danger. Parker was escorted to his home by deputies, just to be safe. KSAT.com

San Antonio Spurs, Tony Parker, Law 

Veteran guard/forward Tracy McGrady, who has become the Spurs' victory cigar in games after being signed at the end of the season, said that when the Spurs brought him in, they made it abundantly clear there were no assurances as far as his playing time. "There were no promises. Pop said 'I might play you or might not.' And he came to ask if I was cool with that. And I said I was cool with that. I want to play if I can, but if not, I'll support the guys." CBSSports.com

San Antonio Spurs, Tracy McGrady 

This is a true story about Randolph, though, one that starred Tiago Splitter, Tim Duncan, Matt Bonner and even Boris Diaw as the resident bullies, and it has the Grizzlies forward gritting and grinding his teeth after an ominous sign in the opener. "That was the best defense I've seen on the big fella in a long time; they did a great job," said the Grizzlies' Mike Conley, who was outplayed in his point guard battle with the Spurs' Tony Parker. "He tried to apologize (in the locker room), and we wouldn't accept that. We said, 'It's not you; it's all of us.' He's just saying that he's going to do better, but we've all got to do better defensively, and offensively we've got to move the ball in order to get other guys open like Zach and play our game." Parker, who had eight of his 20 points in the first quarter in which San Antonio led by 17 points, said, "Yeah, we tried to make it hard on him (with a) double-team. Obviously, he's their best scorer. He's a beast inside. (But) we know he's not going to play like that every game." USA Today Sports

Memphis Grizzlies, San Antonio Spurs, Tony Parker, Zach Randolph, Mike Conley 

ABC is really hurting without the benefit of the Miami Heat on their airwaves. This past weekend, ratings for the Spurs-Warriors and Knicks-Pacers games suffered sharp declines. Sunday's San Antonio-Golden State matchup drew a 3.4 rating and 5.3 million viewers, down 29% in ratings and 30% in viewers from last year's Heat-Pacers game and 36% and 40% from 2011's Lakers-Mavericks matchup. The Knicks and Pacers didn't fare any better on Saturday evening, drawing similar marks of a 3.5 rating and 5.3 million viewers, down 29% and 35% from Heat-Celtcs in 2011 (with no comparable game last year). Awful Announcing

Dallas Mavericks, Golden State Warriors, Indiana Pacers, Los Angeles Lakers, Miami Heat, New York Knicks, San Antonio Spurs, Media