The NBA season became one week old last night, and one of the league’s best teams for the last decade, the San Antonio Spurs, fell to 0-3 for the first time in franchise history. They are without their whirling dervish of a guard, Manu Ginobili, who is sidelined until December following ankle surgery. There are 79 games left in the season. We proabbly wouldn’t have bothered do a post on this if not for the fact that on Monday, the Mavs were walloped at 19 at home by the Cavaliers.

Nobody’s saying the Spurs are dead, or the run is over; but it might be worth taking a peek at what the remainder of the month might look like with Duncan and Parker as the team’s lone offensive options (Roger Mason has shot well so far, but it’s too early for them to rely on a newbie): Luckily, the schedule is favorable. Of the 14 games left this month, only four of those are against teams that made last year’s postseason (Houston twice, Utah and Denver). So clearly, the end is not nigh. Except maybe for Bruce Bowen.