Tim Duncan is San Antonio's lone superstar, but Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said Duncan has been patient with his young teammates and understands the need to get them involved.

"He's been unbelievable," Popovich said. "It's been a year where he had to show a lot of empathy, a lot of patience. Because this is a guy who wants to get it done badly. He's perfectly willing to do it himself no matter what the odds.

"But he realized early in the season he had to have the help of his teammates, just like Kobe (Bryant) and Shaq (O'Neal). They couldn't do it by themselves in games 1 and 2. They needed their perimeter players to play. And those guys, the role players, played much better in Game 3.

"That's the way it is. Stars don't win championships by themselves, teams do. He understands that, so he's always going to be making that decision between, 'Is this where I need to take over, or am I covered to the point where I need to trust other people?' Michael (Jordan) learned the same lessons."