I think Pop has created a new game show called

San Antonio's Got Talent - PG Edition

Smart move by him. Easy game, lots of opportunity for 3 point guards. Which ones has the talent for use comes playoff time.

Great to see Baynes getting 7 points with 100%fg. Patty must have played quite well too. had 6p and 4 assists with a +20

35 assists for the Spurs without any single player dishing out more than 6 is a pretty good team effort.

The Spurs use the D-league better than most teams to get guys minutes. Having Tony Parker and 4 decent backup PG's lingering on the bench or stealing minutes from one another isn't ideal.

I know that over the past few seasons, guys like De Colo, Joseph, Anderson (no longer at the Spurs), Neal and probably other guards too have seen the occasional game in the D-league and then play 20mins or thereabouts in the Spurs' next game.

That's great coaching.

The Spurs use the D-league better than most teams to get guys minutes. Having Tony Parker and 4 decent backup PG's lingering on the bench or stealing minutes from one another isn't ideal.

I know that over the past few seasons, guys like De Colo, Joseph, Anderson (no longer at the Spurs), Neal and probably other guards too have seen the occasional game in the D-league and then play 20mins or thereabouts in the Spurs' next game.

That's great coaching.

Pop is simply the man

People are too biased and overrating Patty Mills..... A great talent but does he deserve to start? Hell to the no.

Cory Joseph was a 1st round (late) draft pick of the Spurs in 2011. A Canadian who played 1 year at Texas. He probably came out of college too soon, but the Spurs have had a plan to develope him in the D-leauge. It has worked, he has been a D-league all star and looked good in his first game. It looks like the Spurs are invested in him and he will get his chance with Parker's injury. His primary attribute is defense and that will get you playing time on the Spurs. Not sure if Patty is known for his defense.

Here is an interesting take:

Who's going to start a PG? by spursfan87
CoJo ... by kenshinsama
Cory Joseph with the big start in front of Patty Mills, Nando de Colo and an apparently healthy enough to play in a blowout, Gary Neal. This is Popovich and his coaching staff being sneaky brilliant. Pop elected to bring Cory Joseph up from the D-League and give him the start because he didn't want both the second unit and the starters to have to adapt to Tony's absence.

The Spurs bench has been arguably the best bench in the league all season. Along with Tony, the bench has been peaking recently. In how many games this season has the bench extended the Spurss lead or fought their way back into the game? How many times have they simply sustained the lead that the Spurs' starters earned? Now, how many times did they under-perform? You paused after that last one because they've been that good. Pop avoided altering the chemistry of his second unit by starting Cory Joseph over all of them. Sneaky brilliant, right?

So, starting Cory Joseph was a way to minimize the loss of Tony Parker, while complimenting all those involved. With this single move, Pop demonstrated the confidence he has in Danny, Kawhi, Tiago and Duncan by giving them Cory Joseph. It also validated his trust in Cory to lead the starting unit. At the same time, he gave the ultimate compliment to his bench by implying that he needs that group to continue to produce at the highest level and not even an injury to MVP Tony Parker would be cause enough to break up the bench's chemistry. So, can we have a slow clap evolving into a standing ovation for Pop? I don't compliment Popovich all that often, but the impact of this tweak to the starting lineup was brilliant and cannot be overlooked.