wolves gameday
8:30 P.M. VS. SAN ANTONIO at MEXICO CITY • FSN, 830-AM
Preview: The Spurs have won 13 of 15 games after beating Atlanta 102-100 on Monday night at home. Included in that stretch: an 11-game winning streak that ended with a loss at Oklahoma City a week ago. Their 13-1 season start tied a franchise record first set during the 2010-11 season, when the Spurs finished 61-21. … The teams split last season's four-game series, with each team winning once on the road. This game in Mexico City is, yes, considered a Wolves' "home" game, even though it's 1,800 miles from Target Center. The Wolves won in San Antonio on the final day of last season, 108-95. Spurs guard Tony Parker played in three of the four games last season and averaged 22 points and 7.3 assists. … Wednesday's late 8:30 p.m. start time is not due to American television time slots but rather life in Mexico, where 6 p.m. work quitting times and rush-hour traffic create later dinner times and sporting-event starts than in the United States.
Players to watch: Spurs veterans Tim Duncan, Manu Ginobili and Tony Parker have played 634 career games together since the 2002-03 season. That's third among the NBA's top trios, behind only the 729 games Boston's Larry Bird, Kevin McHale and Robert Parish played together and the 711 games Detroit's Isiah Thomas, Bill Laimbeer and Vinnie Johnson were on the same team. The Spurs trio's 469 career victories together moved them into third place all-time in the NBA among famous trios, behind only the Bird-McHale-Parish threesome (540 wins) and the Lakers' trio of Magic Johnson, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Michael Cooper (490).
Injuries: Wolves C Ronny Turiaf (elbow) is ramping up activity by doing shooting and 5-on-0 practice work now, but he remains listed as out. So, too, is F Chase Budinger (knee surgery).
JERRY ZGODA