Tim Duncan's sprained right ankle endured another full practice session without incident Monday, clearing the way for the Spurs' All-Star forward to play tonight at Golden State.
Officially, the team has deemed Duncan's availability to be a game-time decision. The Spurs will wait to see how he responds at this morning's shootaround in Oakland before making a final call.
If Duncan does indeed make his return against the Warriors, it will have been nine days since he injured his ankle in a Dec. 2 victory over Portland. He has missed just two games in that span.
Without him, the Spurs managed to beat a pair of Western Conference challengers ? Dallas and Utah ? and extend their franchise-record start to 17-3.
Those two Duncan-less victories ? made possible by back-to-back 37-point nights from Manu Ginobili ? gave rise to facetious speculation that maybe, just maybe, the Spurs don't need their two-time league MVP in order to succeed.