Gregg Popovich may be the only guy who can stop the San Antonio Spurs right now.
If the Spurs coach had his way, this franchise-record winning streak would probably already be over. His players don’t see it quite the same way.
Tony Parker scored 22 points, Boris Diaw added 14 and the Spurs earned their 18th consecutive NBA win by handing the Indiana Pacers their worst home loss of the season, 103-77, on Monday.
“We just wanted to continue to do what we’ve been doing, which is push the ball and play at a high pace and share the ball,” Parker said. “It’s nice to have the record in San Antonio, but it still doesn’t mean anything if you don’t win it all.”
A year ago, the Spurs fell short in Game 7 of the NBA Finals at Miami.
This year, San Antonio seem to be surging at just the right time. The Spurs, with a 58-16 record, haven’t lost since February 21 at Phoenix and surpassed their previous best run on the 18th anniversary of their only other 17-game winning streak by beating the NBA’s best home team on their own court.
If Popovich had his way, this talk would likely be over.
His players don’t believe their coach will allow the streak to continue much longer, especially if the Spurs can clinch the NBA’s best record with games to spare. They lead Oklahoma City by 3 1/2 games in the Western Conference and have six more wins than the Pacers and seven more than the Heat with eight to play.
“I think he’ll be happy if we lose anytime soon,” Parker said, laughing before explaining that Popovich might end it himself. “I’m pretty sure because he’s going to rest like half of the team.”
On Monday, Tim Duncan went 3-of-10 from the field and Manu Ginobili managed only six points and two assists in 16 minutes. The Spurs still routed a team that had been No 1 in the East all season. Indiana trails two-time defending champion Miami by percentage points for the top spot in the Eastern Conference.
“We’ll worry about a couple of things, staying healthy, finishing the season strong and hopefully going into the playoffs with the confidence we’re playing with now,” Duncan said.
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In numbers: PKK’s money network in Europe
Germany: PKK collectors typically bring in $18 million in cash a year – amount has trebled since 2010
Revolutionary tax: Investigators say about $2 million a year raised from ‘tax collection’ around Marseille
Extortion: Gunman convicted in 2023 of demanding $10,000 from Kurdish businessman in Stockholm
Drug trade: PKK income claimed by Turkish anti-drugs force in 2024 to be as high as $500 million a year
Denmark: PKK one of two terrorist groups along with Iranian separatists ASMLA to raise “two-digit million amounts”
Contributions: Hundreds of euros expected from typical Kurdish families and thousands from business owners
TV channel: Kurdish Roj TV accounts frozen and went bankrupt after Denmark fined it more than $1 million over PKK links in 2013
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LAST-16 FIXTURES
Sunday, January 20
3pm: Jordan v Vietnam at Al Maktoum Stadium, Dubai
6pm: Thailand v China at Hazza bin Zayed Stadium, Al Ain
9pm: Iran v Oman at Mohamed bin Zayed Stadium, Abu Dhabi
Monday, January 21
3pm: Japan v Saudi Arabia at Sharjah Stadium
6pm: Australia v Uzbekistan at Khalifa bin Zayed Stadium, Al Ain
9pm: UAE v Kyrgyzstan at Zayed Sports City Stadium, Abu Dhabi
Tuesday, January 22
5pm: South Korea v Bahrain at Rashid Stadium, Dubai
8pm: Qatar v Iraq at Al Nahyan Stadium, Abu Dhabi
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There has been a longstanding need from the Indian community to have a religious premises where they can practise their beliefs. Currently there is a very, very small temple in Bur Dubai and the community has outgrown this. So this will be a major temple and open to all denominations and a place should reflect India’s diversity.
It fits so well into the UAE’s own commitment to tolerance and pluralism and coming in the year of tolerance gives it that extra dimension.
What we will see on April 20 is the foundation ceremony and we expect a pretty broad cross section of the Indian community to be present, both from the UAE and abroad. The Hindu group that is building the temple will have their holiest leader attending – and we expect very senior representation from the leadership of the UAE.
When the designs were taken to the leadership, there were two clear options. There was a New Jersey model with a rectangular structure with the temple recessed inside so it was not too visible from the outside and another was the Neasden temple in London with the spires in its classical shape. And they said: look we said we wanted a temple so it should look like a temple. So this should be a classical style temple in all its glory.
It is beautifully located - 30 minutes outside of Abu Dhabi and barely 45 minutes to Dubai so it serves the needs of both communities.
This is going to be the big temple where I expect people to come from across the country at major festivals and occasions.
It is hugely important – it will take a couple of years to complete given the scale. It is going to be remarkable and will contribute something not just to the landscape in terms of visual architecture but also to the ethos. Here will be a real representation of UAE’s pluralism.
Founders: Abdulmajeed Alsukhan, Turki Bin Zarah and Abdulmohsen Albabtain.
Based: Riyadh
Offices: UAE, Vietnam and Germany
Founded: September, 2020
Number of employees: 70
Sector: FinTech, online payment solutions
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Investors: Checkout.com, Impact46, Vision Ventures, Wealth Well, Seedra, Khwarizmi, Hala Ventures, Nama Ventures and family offices
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