Spurs doctors put a splint on Tony Parker's broken right index finger Monday after determining he doesn't need surgery.

Parker will wear the splint at least four weeks. The team's medical staff will re-evaluate Parker in a month.

The Spurs open training camp in France in just less than six weeks. Until then, Parker won't be able to work to improve his jump shot, but team officials remain hopeful he won't have to miss much, if any, of camp.

"Any time there's an injury, the initial concern is worse-case," Spurs general manager R.C. Buford said. "If this is it, this is about as good as we could have anticipated."

San Antonio guard Tony Parker will not play for France in the world championship after being diagnosed with a broken finger.

Parker, who injured his finger in an exhibition game against Brazil on Tuesday in China, had X-rays on his right index finger on Thursday in Japan and was informed Friday it's broken.

He practiced Thursday with his finger bandaged and was in some pain," said Fabrice Canet, the team's press officer. "He wanted to stay but will return to the United States at the request of the Spurs."

X-Rays have revealed that Spurs guard Tony Parker has a fracture near the tip of his right index finger, the San Antonio Express-News is reporting.

Because of the 15-hour time difference, the Spurs' training and medical staffs have had trouble contacting Parker to assess the injury's severity.

Conflicting reports from France have added to the confusion. One said Parker almost certainly won't play in France's opening game against Manu Ginobili and Argentina on Saturday. Another said Parker might try to practice today with his index finger padded and taped to his middle finger.

Parker was injured when his finger was caught in the jersey of Brazil's Leandro Barbosa in France's tuneup game Tuesday.

Tony Parker is expected to have X-rays on his sprained finger on Thursday in Japan, but the injury is not believed serious, according to Spurs officials.

Parker sprained the finger on his shooting hand when he got it caught in the jersey of Brazil's Leandro Barbosa during France's exhibition game Tuesday.

With only one more spot to clear before being ready to compete in the upcoming World Championships, Team USA has made its final cut of San Antonio Spurs' defensive stalwart Bruce Bowen from the active roster of 12 for the Championships.

The offical roster is: Carmelo Anthony (Denver Nuggets); Shane Battier (Houston Rockets); Chris Bosh (Toronto Raptors); Elton Brand ( Los Angeles Clippers); Kirk Hinrich (Chicago Bulls); Dwight Howard (Orlando Magic); LeBron James (Cleveland Cavaliers); Antawn Jamison (Washington Wizards); Joe Johnson (Atlanta Hawks); Brad Miller (Sacramento Kings); Chris Paul (New Orleans/ Oklahoma City Hornets); and Dwyane Wade (Miami Heat).

With one exhibition game remaining for the United States before the start of the world championships, it appears increasingly likely Spurs forward Bruce Bowen won't be selected for the national team's active roster.

U.S. coach Mike Krzyzewski brought 14 players to Asia for the team's warm-up games but must pare the roster to 12 before Saturday's opener in Japan. Bowen has totaled only 27 minutes, the fewest among the 14 players, in the team's four exhibitions.

After not playing at all against Brazil last week, Bowen had three rebounds and an assist in six minutes during Sunday's 111-88 victory over Lithuania. He is the only player on the team who hasn't scored, though he has taken just four shots, all 3-pointers.

Before Sunday's game, one USA Basketball official conceded Bowen would have a "difficult time" making the active roster. Though Bowen was named to the team to give the United States a strong perimeter defender, Houston's Shane Battier also could fill that role.

If Bowen isn't selected for the 12-man roster, he could still remain with the team and assist with game preparations.

Fired-up by Tony Parker, France clambered back from a first half deficit to down European champions Greece 72-68 in a world championships warmup in China on Saturday.

The San Antonio guard had six points and three assists and was instrumental in driving a strong French team effort in the second half.

In a preview of the World Championships, Serbia & Montenegro showed Argentina it fully intends on defending its title.

Igor Rakocevic scored 18 points and Darko Milicic added 17 as Serbia rolled to an 83-64 victory over Argentina on Friday in the opener of the Singapore Cup, a four-team exhibition tournament.

"This is a friendly game and it will be very different at the World Championship," Serbia coach Dragan Sakota cautioned.

Joyce Van Exel, the mother of former Spurs guard Nick Van Exel who shared the fearless attitude her son used to become an NBA All-Star, died Tuesday in Houston. She was 52.

Joyce was found dead of an apparent heart attack in the house Van Exel bought for her near his home in Houston. An autopsy is planned, said Van Exel's agent, Tony Dutt.

"It's a really emotional time for him," Dutt said. "But we're going to do everything we can to help him through it."

After controversy stemming from last year's playoffs seeding, the NBA is changing its format.

Under the change, the top four seeds -- the three division winners and the second-place team with the best record -- will be seeded according to their win-loss total, guaranteeing that the top two teams in each conference can't meet until the conference finals, the league announced Wednesday.

"I think it's a tweak, is what I'd call it, and it's probably a good one," said Jerry Colangelo, the former chairman of the league's Board of Governors. "Ultimately you want your best teams, the teams who have worked all season to put themselves in a position based on their records, to be seeded accordingly."

The NBA had given the top three seeds to division winners regardless of record, meaning a second-place team could not do better than the No. 4 seed, even if it had a better record than a division champion.

That rule came under fire last season when the Spurs met the Mavericks in the second round of the Western Conference playoffs, even though the second-place Mavericks had a far better record than division champions Phoenix or Denver.