The San Antonio Spurs were without Tim Duncan, Manu Ginobili, Tony Parker and Antonio McDyess on Monday against the Portland Trail Blazers. All four players missed the game due to injury. To the surprise of no one, the Blazers were able to send San Antonio to their fourth straight defeat.

The surprise was how close the game was in the fourth quarter.

For most of the season, the San Antonio Spurs had perfect health. Now it appears that all the injuries are striking at once for San Antonio. In their Monday night game against the Portland Trail Blazers, the Spurs were without four starters: Tim Duncan, Manu Ginobili, Tony Parker and Antonio McDyess.

The San Antonio Spurs and the Los Angeles Lakers battled to the final buzzer. That's when Antonio McDyess tipped in a Tim Duncan miss to down the Lakers. McDyess' tip gave the Spurs an 89-88 win and improved San Antonio's record to 41-8 the best mark in the NBA. The Lakers dropped to 34-16, which has Los Angeles as the third seed in the Western Conference.