The revolving door in the Spurs' front office may be in for another spin.
Spurs general manger R.C. Buford confirmed Sunday that the Minnesota Timberwolves have asked for permission to interview Spurs assistant general manager Dennis Lindsey for an opening atop the team's Basketball operations department. Lindsey has been with the Spurs since the summer of 2007, when he replaced Sam Presti as Buford's top assistant after the then-Seattle SuperSonics hired Presti as general manager.
Timberwolves owner Glen Taylor removed Kevin McHale from duties as vice-president of Basketball operations when he named him as successor on the bench after Randy Wittman was fired as head coach on Dec. 8. The team's Basketball operations now are being conducted by general manager Jim Stack and his two assistants, Fred Hoiberg and Rob Babcock.
During the Spurs-Hornets playoff series last spring, Lindsey was asked to interview for the Atlanta Hawks' vacant general manager position, but he took his name out of the running for that job after preliminary talks.
Lance Blanks, another former member of the Spurs' front office and now Danny Ferry's top assistant in Cleveland, also is believed to be on the Timberwolves' short list.
Extra work: Though he had a solid offensive showing in Game 1, Tim Duncan was the last player to leave the practice court Sunday morning.
Duncan shot for about 45 extra minutes, finishing with five minutes of extra free-throw practice.
Duncan made 13 of 24 shots and scored 27 points in Game 1.
Ghost of Manu: Less than 24 hours after Spurs coach Gregg Popovich told reporters that he didn't want his players to consider injured Manu Ginobili a part of the team, it was strange to see Ginobili in a Spurs practice uniform after the team's workout at its practice facility.
Ginobili, out with a stress fracture of the right distal fibula, fired a few underhanded, full-court shots before retreating to the team's locker room.
New roles for Dirk, Terry: Dirk Nowitzki and Jason Terry combined for only 23 field-goal attempts in Game 1. Only once in the regular-season - Nov. 3 against Cleveland - did that duo take fewer shots in a game in which both of them played.
With the Spurs' defense hounding Nowitzki and Terry, they were more than willing to let their teammates take the offensive load.
"I think we were great decoys," Nowitzki said.
"The key to this series is the role players," Terry said. "If our role players outplay theirs, we'll have a great chance to win."
Staff writer Mike Finger contributed to this report.
