Spurs to rest most of core against Nuggets

The San Antonio Spurs will rest Kawhi Leonard, LaMarcus Aldridge, Tony Parker, Manu Ginobili, and Danny Green on Friday against the Denver Nuggets. Boris Diaw will miss his third straight game with right adductor soreness.

Even with coach Gregg Popovich's unpredictable history of resting players, Friday's news was expected with the Spurs on night two of a back-to-back and going from the Pacific Time Zone to the altitude of Denver and Mountain Time.

The Spurs dropped Thursday's showdown with the Golden State Warriors, but return home Sunday to face the Dubs again for the final time this regular season, with a chance to tie the season series at two.