DALLAS ? Chris Webber was worried he couldn't resist too strong a sales pitch, so he did the sensible thing.

He stopped taking phone calls.

Otherwise, who knows? He might have been preparing to pull on a silver-and-black uniform tonight to play alongside Tim Duncan against the Sacramento Kings.

The calls Webber decided not to take were from Spurs coach Gregg Popovich.

"It was tough, definitely, not going to San Antonio with the opportunity to play with Tim," Webber said after a recent workout with Sacramento teammates at American Airlines Arena in Dallas. "It's just an honor. I have all the respect in the world for Coach Gregg Popovich.

Malik Rose contributed 14 points and 11 rebounds, helping spark the Spurs past the Warriors before 16,442 at the Alamodome.

Rose contributed four points, four rebounds, a block and a steal during a six-minute stretch in the second quarter that saw the Spurs outscore the Warriors 15-0. He also was one of three Spurs to finish with a double-double. Tim Duncan had 16 points and 12 rebounds, five assists and four of the Spurs' season-high 12 blocks, while David Robinson added 19 points and 12 boards.

A notoriously slow starter, even when healthy, Duncan is enjoying the best start of his five-year career. He's averaging career bests in points (24.1), rebounds (13.4), blocks (2.6), assists (3.7) and turnovers (2.8) and has even put last season's free-throw follies behind him, shooting a career-high 78.6 percent from the line.

Among the league leaders, he ranks first in double-doubles (10) and rebounding, third in blocks and eighth in scoring. On Monday he was named the Western Conference Player of the Week for the second time in three weeks.

"I just feel great," Duncan said. "That's what it comes down to. I feel healthy."

Tim Duncan was named the Western Conference Player of the Week on Monday for the second time in three weeks.

Duncan averaged 27.0 points, 16.3 rebounds, 5.7 assists and 2.3 blocks as the Spurs went 2-1 last week. He scored 30 points in each of the games against Seattle and Indiana and grabbed a season-high 18 rebounds against both the Pacers and Minnesota.

Who is Rasho Nesterovic?

Said Robinson, shaking his head, "He was the X-factor tonight."

Having spent the past four seasons as the Timberwolves' 7-foot nonfactor ? as well as their sometime-starting center ? Nesterovic made Robinson and the Spurs pay for their inattention Saturday night at the Target Center, totaling a career-high 24 points and 12 rebounds to lead Minnesota to a 99-94 win.

The Spurs were only 20 minutes removed from watching Minnesota KO their seven-game winning streak and wrestle away the Midwest Division lead, so it was little surprise their locker room was stoic as ever Saturday night.

While his teammates dressed quietly and prepared to shuffle to the bus, David Robinson tried to put the moment in perspective.

"There's no shame in this," Robinson said. "Minnesota is playing as well as anybody. This just shows we have a lot more work to do."

The Spurs didn't need Saturday's loss to tell them that.

Timberwolves coach Flip Saunders is a bit surprised rookie point guard Tony Parker is starting for the San Antonio Spurs. Not because the 19-year-old Frenchmen doesn't have the skills, but because entering draft day, Saunders thought Parker was a cinch to play elsewhere.
"We thought he was going to go in the top 15,'' Saunders said of Parker, who ended up going 28th. "He and (Pacers rookie Jamaal) Tinsley we had rated that high; our whole staff was kind of surprised that they fell.''

Orlando coach Doc Rivers and Boston general manager Chris Wallace are among those who already have said they regret passing over Parker. The Wolves, who had only a second-round draft pick, regret not even having the chance.

Since Spurs coach Gregg Popovich inserted Parker into the starting lineup, the Spurs had won seven in a row before losing Saturday at Minnesota. There already is talk that the 6-foot-4, 205-pounder will be a rookie of the year candidate, after averaging 11.5 points and 4.6 assists over his first 11 games.

So for now, what the Timberwolves see as their heated rivalry with the San Antonio Spurs remains, well, in the eyes of the grudge-holders.

It's true that the Spurs and the Wolves -- who play tonight at Target Center in a still-November NBA game worthy of some klieg lights -- pursue the same goals: the Midwest Division crown, Western Conference supremacy and ultimately the NBA championship.

But the Spurs have been there, done that. They beat the Knicks in the NBA Finals in 1999 and reached the conference finals last spring. The Wolves never have survived the first round. Over the past four years, San Antonio has posted a 204-65 record, compared to the Wolves' 167-129.

Back things up further: Since 1989-90, when the Wolves first began play, the Spurs have finished first or second in the division 11 times. The Wolves never have climbed higher than third.

What the Wolves view as a rivalry hinges largely on intangibles: The teams feature two of the most talented, versatile and coveted big men in the league in Tim Duncan and Kevin Garnett. Both rosters are stocked with good citizens and fierce competitors, playing in somewhat neglected markets. Neither head coach played in the NBA, yet each connects with his players and rarely is challenged.

Oh, then there is that matter of two first-round eliminations, dealt to the Wolves by the Spurs in 1999 and 2001, each time in four games.

San Antonio has quietly become a haven for players seeking to improve their 3-point shooting.

Terry Porter, Antonio Daniels, Sean Elliott, Derek Anderson and Danny Ferry each has enjoyed a career-best season behind the line with the Spurs over the past two years.

Porter made a franchise-record 43.5 percent of his 3-pointers in his first season with the team (1999-2000) only to watch Ferry break it last season when he shot 44.9 percent. Ferry's reign might be just as brief. Steve Smith, a career 34.5 percent 3-point shooter entering the season, made a remarkable 22-of-30 threes (73.3 percent) in his first nine games with the Spurs.

On the surface, it looked like another ho-hum night for Tim Duncan.

Thirty points. Eighteen rebounds. Five assists. Four blocks. One more win.

But the only thing Duncan found easy about Friday's 97-79 victory over Indiana was describing how it came to be.

"Perseverance," Duncan said. "We just fought it out."

For that, the Spurs were happy. On a night in which their thrill-a-minute offense took a sabbatical, they still pounded out their seventh straight victory, wearing down the Pacers over the final 13 minutes.

The win also moved the Spurs (9-2) into a tie with Minnesota atop the Midwest Division, putting the teams on equal footing heading into tonight's game at the Target Center.