Not long before the San Antonio Spurs were set to tip-off against the Minnesota Timberwolves last weekend, coach Gregg Popovich found out that Manu Ginobili and Marco Belinelli were not going to be available because of injuries. Authentic Boomer Esiason Jersey .It was the latest in a series of unexpected obstacles that have gotten in the Spurs way during their first title defence since the 2007-08 season.Manu was a surprise losing him. Losing Bellie today makes us, you know, a little bit paranoid, Popovich confessed before the Spurs easily dispatched the lowly Wolves, 108-93.Paranoid? The Spurs? In January?The Spurs have spent almost 20 years turning the NBAs regular season into nothing more than a six-month warmup for the playoffs.They manage minutes, develop bench players and set recovery times from injury with an eye not on winning games in the regular season, but making sure the team is adequately prepared and rested for the 2 1/2-month post-season grind.Popovich has perfected the art of the 82-game ramp-up, never getting overly concerned about how the team is playing in winter so long as they are progressing to where they need to be come spring time. And thats easy to do when the Spurs also own the best regular season winning percentage in the league over the past decade.But after the Spurs took their game to heights rarely seen in steam-rolling through the playoffs and beating the Miami Heat for the franchises fifth championship last June, they are in the unfamiliar position of chasing the pack.They are 23-15, good for just seventh in the powerful Western Conference and three games behind sixth-seeded Dallas.We had that tough schedule last month, and we put ourselves in a hole. Its a long season, and its time, weve got time to fight back, Tim Duncan said. But weve got to start now. Weve got to start focusing, concentrating on racking up the wins no matter where it is whether its home or on the road or whoever its against.They have dealt with a litany of injuries that has really prevented them from finding any kind of a groove this season. The Spurs went 8-10 in December — the first time in the Duncan era that they lost more games than they won in a month. And it has injected an uncommon sense of urgency in a team that rarely sweats the standings this early in the season.Every game is going to mean something, Popovich said. Were disappointed were in the position we are. We lost some games we could have won. And we were just injured at the wrong time. December was a heck of a month for us schedule-wise, and being injured at that time was tough.Kawhi Leonard, Tiago Splitter and Tony Parker have all missed big chunks of time with injuries while Manu Ginobili and Belinelli have suffered the nagging, more minor variety.If we knew who was out, that would be good, Popovich said. But its been someone different every night. If we knew a few guys would be out for three weeks, then you can get into a rhythm with that group. But we havent been able to do that because it seems like its different people every other game.After beating the Timberwolves on Saturday night, the Spurs have won four of their past five games. A win in Washington on Tuesday would give them their first three-game winning streak in more than a month.A modest achievement like that is hardly something these level-headed Spurs would celebrate. But their uneven start to the season, and the incredible level of competition in the Western Conference playoff field this year, has put them in this position. So as they have done so many times before, they are adjusting their approach, and trying to ramp things up a little earlier than they normally would.We need to get on a rhythm, get some chemistry going, guard Danny Green said. And putting some games together would be nice.___Follow Jon Krawczynski on Twitter: http://twitter.com/APKrawczynski Authentic Andy Dalton Jersey . According to a report from ESPN, Lynch wants a new contract from the Seahawks, and will likely skip all off-season workouts until he can renegotiate his deal with the Seahawks. Authentic Cedric Ogbuehi Jersey . Right-hander Todd Redmond took the loss. Jose Bautista hit his second home run of the spring. Here are a handful of tidbits from around camp: Hutchison impressive The Blue Jays are being cautious when talking about their young arms but internally, excitement is building over the way Drew Hutchison is looking and performing this spring. http://www.cheapbengalsjerseysauthentic.com/?tag=authentic-tyler-eifert-jersey . - Loosening up for their first training camp practice, the Miami Dolphins high-stepped sideways up and down the field while House of Pains song "Jump Around" blared on the loudspeakers. DALLAS -- The Edmonton Oilers made the most of limited offence and both parts of their goalie tandem. Jordan Eberle and David Perron scored in the shootout, and Devan Dubnyk come on in relief of injured goalie Ilya Bryzgalov in the Oilers 3-2 win over the Dallas Stars on Sunday night. "Its nice to get a win," Perron said, "mostly with the shot total that was tonight (Dallas 45, Edmonton 32). We greased one out." Dubnyk stopped two of three shots in the tiebreaker. Dallas Kari Lehtonen failed to make a save in the shootout after stopping 30 shots through the first 65 minutes. "Things werent really going our way for the first half of the game, so you knew there was going to be some shots," Dubnyk said. "I thought we responded pretty good to it." Edmontons Ales Hemsky scored 5 seconds before the second period ended, and Andrew Ference fired in a slap shot with 5:07 remaining in regulation to tie it again. Ryan Garbutt scored two goals, including a short-handed tally that gave Dallas a 1-0 lead in the second period. He also put the Stars ahead in the third. "Its obviously pretty important to have good shootouts," Garbutt said. "Weve had (Rich) Peverley scoring goals in the last two games, but we need more guys stepping up when weve got the opportunity." Garbutt nearly had a hat trick but he was stopped on a breakaway attempt by Bryzgalov with 3:41 left in the second. Garbutt collided with Bryzgalov, who left with an upper-body injury and didnt return. "That line and (Garbutt) have played well," Dallas coach Lindy Ruff said. "He had eight shots and he skated well. He could have had four goals tonight. Hes creating them himself with his speed." Bryzgalov, who made 28 saves, trailed 1-0 when he came out. Edmonton coach Dallas Eakins praised both of his goalies. "Both those guys, and especially (Dubnyk) coming in the way he did, they were a real catalyst for our team," he said. "To come in off the bench, its never easy. Youve been sitting there for a long time, and then to make especially those saves in tight, that kept us going. "When your goaltendings good it allows you to hang around in the game. They could have easily been first or second stars or second and third, which would have been maybe a first in the NHL." The Oilers improved to 2-1 in shootouts. The Stars dropped to 3-3, including two straight losses in the tiebreaker. Ruff said there was a difference between Fridays 22-1 loss to Chicago, which owns the NHLs best record, and Sundays defeat against the seventh-place team in the Pacific Division. Authentic Kevin Huber Jersey. "This was a lot more frustrating," he said. "There was glorious opportunities to put it away. Weve got to bear down better and make sure we finish on some of those opportunities." Edmontons other shootout win was on Oct. 7, when Eberle scored the deciding goal against New Jersey. Garbutt put the Stars in front in the second period when he stole the puck near the Edmonton blue line, skated in alone on Bryzgalov, and put a backhander into the upper right corner of the net. The unassisted goal came at 11:37, just 1 second before Dallas Jordie Benn was to come out of the penalty box. It was the Stars second short-handed goal this season. Garbutt has five goals this season, and 10 in 76 NHL games. Dallas had 18 shots in the first period, but couldnt score against Bryzgalov. In the second, the Oilers finally broke through against Lehtonen, who had shut them out in Edmonton on Nov. 13. Jones sent a pass from the top of the right circle to Hemsky in front. Lehtonen stopped Hemskys first attempt, but Hemsky poked in the rebound. The Oilers had been scoreless in 108 minutes against Lehtonen. "It was just kind of a loose puck battle and I wanted to go in hard just to win it," Jones said. "The puck squirted out behind us, and I just turned and threw it there. "Its kind of been my mentality all throughout hockey, just get pucks there. It was a big goal for us late in the second to tie it up." NOTES: Eakins wouldnt elaborate on Bryzgalovs injury. "Ive got to keep this under wraps until we check him out a little further," he said. . Center Tyler Seguin, leading Dallas with 12 goals, missed his first game this season because of concussion-like symptoms resulting from a hit during Fridays game against Chicago. . The Stars failed to score on four power plays, including 9 seconds with a 5-on-3 advantage late in the first period. Dallas is the only NHL team with fewer than 10 power-play goals. Seguin has two of the Stars nine. The team is 1 for 37 at home and 9 for 86 overall. . The Oilers were 0 for 6. Their two first-period power plays followed Stars bench minors for too many men on the ice. . Defenceman Jamie Oleksiak played and started his first game for Dallas this season, and was credited with two blocked shots and three hits. He was recalled from Texas of the AHL when Stephane Robidas went on injured reserve. 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