Terry Porter has played a zone before.

Just not in the NBA.

Or college.

"High school," Porter said. "1980. 1980 ... when was that? A couple of years ago?"

Try a couple years before the birth of Tony Parker.

But there they were, early in the second quarter of Sunday's exhibition game against Houston: Parker and Porter. The rookie and the vet. Both of them shuffling back and forth in a what could only be described as a weak impersonation of a 3-2 defense.

The Spurs, regarded as one of the league's top man-to-man teams, finally tried to take advantage of the NBA's new rules in Sunday's 92-87 loss to the Rockets.

They played a zone. For an entire half.