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SPURS GAMEDAY: Silver and Black open 46th season in San Antonio

All-NBA guard DeMar DeRozan makes Spurs debut in home game against the Minnesota Timberwolves.

GAMEDAY AT A GLANCE

Minnesota Timberwolves vs. Spurs, season opener

When, where: 7:30 p.m., AT&T Center

TV: KENS 5, 7 p.m.

Last season: Spurs won series 2-1

Timberwolves last season: 47-35, eighth in Western Conference

Spurs last season: 47-35, seventh in Western Conference

Timberwolves injury report: Center Justin Patton (foot surgery) is out.

Spurs injury report: Guards Dejounte Murray (right ACL), Lonnie Walker IV (right medial meniscus) and Derrick White (left heel pain) are all out.

Notable: The Spurs lead the all-time series against the Timberwolves 86-29, including 49-9 in San Antonio. The Silver and Black have won nine in a row against Minnesota at the AT&T Center since a 108-95 Timberwolves victory on April 17, 2013 . . . The Spurs had won 12 consecutive games in the series before Minnesota broke the streak with a 98-86 victory last Nov. 15 at the Target Center . . . The Silver and Black have recorded 21 consecutive winning seasons since 1997, when Tim Duncan joined the team, and have compiled the second-highest winning percentage (.705) of any team in the four major professional sports leagues during that time period. The New England Patriots (.713) are No. 1 . . . The Spurs are the only NBA franchise with a winning record against every team in the league.

GAME PREVIEW

SAN ANTONIO – Ready or not, here come the new-look, post-Big 3 Spurs.

Two years after franchise pillar Tim Duncan retired, Manu Ginobili and Tony Parker are also gone. Parker signed with Charlotte as a free agent in early July, and 41-year-old Ginobili finally retired in late August. The Big 3 won four NBA championships together and more games than any other trio in league history.

But Ginobili and Parker aren’t the only players the Silver and Black lost in the offseason. Disgruntled All-NBA forward Kawhi Leonard was traded to Toronto, taking Danny Green with him as part of the deal that netted the Spurs All-NBA guard DeMar DeRozan, 7-footer Jakob Poeltl and a protected 2019 first-round draft pick.

Reliable backup Kyle Anderson, who started at small forward for most of last season while Leonard struggled with a quadriceps injury, also left. San Antonio’s depth took a hit when Anderson, whose high basketball IQ always drew praise from coach Gregg Popovich, signed with Memphis as a restricted free agent.

The newest iteration of San Antonio NBA’s franchise tips off its 46th season in the Alamo City against the Minnesota Timberwolves at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday at the AT&T Center. The game is one of 12 that will be broadcast by KENS 5, the official TV station of the Spurs. Wednesday night’s pregame show on KENS 5 starts at 7.

The Silver and Black will face a Minnesota team that’s been in turmoil since All-Star swingman Jimmy Butler demanding to be traded shortly before the start of training camp.

Asked whether he’s kept up with the drama in the Timberwolves’ camp, veteran forward Rudy Gay said: “I mean, it’s kind of hard not to. But everybody has their problems. Every team, whether it looks like it or not, everybody is going through something. I don’t think we’re going to take it easy on them because of it. They wouldn’t take it easy on us. Nobody did last year.”

RELATED: Rudy Gay says he'll be ready for Spurs' opener against Wolves on Wednesday

Although shaken after losing three players, including starting point guard Dejounte Murray, to injuries in a six-day span during the preseason, the Spurs say they’re ready to take on the challenge with their remade roster.

RELATED: Spurs don't have much time to regroup after getting wracked by injuries

"It's been a very quick preseason, knowing that we've got a new team and there's a lot of stuff to try to get everyone on the same page," backup guard Patty Mills said this week. "In that sense, we blinked our eyes and here we are, getting ready for our first game of the season."

"But I think, like always, we can hang our hat on our system and the way that we like to play. Anyone can kind of fill in roles as long as we do it together and see the big picture."

All-NBA power forward LaMarcus Aldridge and DeRozan, consistently one of the top scorers in the NBA during his nine seasons with Toronto, will carry the bulk of the Spurs’ offense.

A six-time All-Star, Aldridge led the team in scoring (23.1) and rebounding (8.5) last season. He is starting his 13th season in the NBA and fourth with San Antonio.

“I feel good,” Aldridge said. “I had a great offseason, getting healthy. Had a good camp as far as working on things and finding chemistry with the guys, so I feel good. Just ready to go.”

DeRozan led Toronto in scoring (23.0) and averaged a career-high 5.2 assists last season. A deadly midrange shooter, he and Aldridge are expected to give the Silver and Black one of the best scoring tandems in the league.

"His resume speaks for itself, the type of player he is," DeRozan said of Aldridge after the team's shootaround Thursday morning. "Always been a fan of his game since he was in college. Being able to team up with a guy as dominant as him definitely should be fun. I always played with great guards, but now to play with a dynamic big in LaMarcus, it should be fun."

How excited is DeRozan about making a new start with the Spurs?

"It's got to be up there because it's a new situation, new feelings, new city," he said. "New everything. Every day is going to be completely new for me this go-around. In years previously, I always knew what to expect . . . Once that first game comes, every day is business, so I'm looking forward to it a lot."

Aldridge said he is excited “for sure” about having the opportunity to play with DeRozan.

“I’m excited about the whole team,” Aldridge said. “It’s a new challenge for us, a new opportunity to go out and do it all over again. It’s going to be a little bit tough being down so many guys early, but it’s going to be fun for us.”

While much of the old gang is gone, Gregg Popovich returns for his 23rd season as the Spurs’ head coach.

The Spurs’ string of injuries started when Lonnie Walker IV, their first-round draft pick this summer, tore the medial meniscus in his right knee in a preseason game against Houston on Oct. 5. Walker had surgery three days later and is expected to miss six to eight weeks.

Two days after Walker was injured, the Silver and Black took a gut punch when Murray went down with a season-ending ACL injury in a preseason game against Houston. Things got worse three days later when Derrick White, who had replaced Murray at point guard, sustained a heel injury against Atlanta. White is expected to be out anywhere from two to eight weeks.

In an amazing turn of events, the Spurs lost their past three first-round draft picks to injuries in three consecutive games.

“Look, I think it’s foolish not to think that when Derrick went down there was a sense of, you know, feeling deflated,” Mills said. “It’s quite rare, or not very often, I guess, when we lost three guys in five days."

“But very quickly coming together as a group to say to say we’ve actually still got a great opportunity here and business still at hand and take care of. I think our response from watching film from our Atlanta preseason game and carryover to the Orlando game was very positive from a team aspect.”

Third-year pro Bryn Forbes started at point guard against Orlando and had a solid game, finishing with eight points, six rebounds, three assists and one steal in 26 minutes. Forbes is expected to start at the point again in the season opener.

“His confidence gets higher all the time,” Popovich said of Forbes. “We ask him to do a lot. He’s a two (shooting guard), then he’s a one (point guard). He’s going back and forth, but he’s catching on and feeling more comfortable with every practice and every day.”

Forbes, Aldridge and DeRozan are expected to be joined in the starting lineup by Gay and Poeltl at center, although veteran Pau Gasol could get the nod instead of Poeltl.

Popovich has been high on Poeltl throughout the season.

“He’s a great guy. He’s a great teammate,” Popovich said. “He was a great teammate in Toronto. He’s the same way here. He’s sharp. He picks things up quickly. He’s been great.”

Popovich thinks well enough of Poeltl that he had classical music by Austrian composer Franz Schubert played on the Spurs’ practice facility sound system on Poeltl’s 23rd birthday Monday, as the team shot free throws. Poeltl is the first Austrian to play in the NBA.

“We did some Franz Schubert for him,” Popovich said, smiling. “A little Austrian music. You’ve got to enjoy yourself a little bit.”

Poeltl appreciated the gesture and praised Popovich for the culture he fosters within the team.

“The fact that he even did it, like the attention to detail and then obviously the humor behind it, it’s great,” Poeltl said. “I feel like that’s one of the unique things about Pop and the Spurs in general, stuff like that. It works here. Not everybody can pull it off. He can for sure.”

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