Now," Antonio Daniels said, "we're just playing."

That's an improvement from a month ago when the Spurs' reserves weren't quite sure when or if they were going to play. A run of injuries, along with Gregg Popovich's efforts to give Charles Smith and Stephen Jackson some experience, caused the team's substitution patterns ? and sometimes even the starting lineup ? to change almost nightly.

"We were pretty discombobulated," Popovich said. "Now we actually have a rotation that makes some kind of sense."

As a result, the Spurs also have a bench that is making a difference in games. On Monday and Tuesday, the reserves' energetic play pushed the Spurs to victory, improving the team's record to 34-10 when its bench outscores the opponents'.