While Robinson's minutes (28.3) are down only slightly from the career-low 29.6 he averaged per game last season, far fewer of them are coming in the final quarter. In the past 11 games, he has been on the bench for 98 of a possible 142 minutes after the third quarter. In Friday's loss in Philadelphia and Monday's loss to the Nets, he did not play at all in the final quarter.

The man the Spurs used to call on to make the final defensive stop has recently been limited to producing more modest contributions. A fist pump. A few words of encouragement.

"That's something that I'm obviously not comfortable with," Robinson said.