As the battle for the Western Conference number one seed comes to a near conclusion, the San Antonio Spurs are faced with a familiar dilemma -- play your star players and go for the top seed or rest your players to ensure they are ready for the playoffs?

For knowledgeable Spurs fans, it takes you one second (two if you breathe) to know what Coach Greg Popovich choice would be. 

This decision doesn’t mean the last four games are to be thrown away.  After the second unit’s performance against the Denver Nuggets, these four games are much needed as any practice the team will run.

Aron Baynes should make use of anytime he gets to team with Tiago Splitter or Tim Duncan with Boris Diaw resting his back.  Baynes will be called up on to help with the boards, change shots and give another option in the pick-and-roll game. 

When it rains it pours.

The San Antonio Spurs have been hit hard by the injury bug at the worst possible time of the season. From Tony Parker's myriad of injuries, Manu Ginobili's hamstring, to Kawhi Leonard's knee issues, the Spurs are limping into the playoffs which begin in a few days.

And as if that wasn't enough, Boris Diaw (who suffered back spasms recently) underwent surgery on his lower back to remove a cyst from his spine and will be out 3-4 weeks which means he'll miss the entire first round of the playoffs if not more.

As I've written about before, the San Antonio Spurs have for the most part gone away from their draft and stash method that dominated their draft strategy of the middle of the last decade.  They still have drafted guys like Davis Bertans, Adam Hanga and Ryan Richards, but none of those guys were first round picks and the Spurs drafted other guys in the first round that played stateside the following season.

While there could be some gems in the back half of this draft, this might, MIGHT, be the year the Spurs swing for the fences on an international prospect, much like they did with Tony Parker, Tiago Splitter and yes, Ian Mahimni.  They're in good shape salary cap wise, so they don't absolutely need a cheap role player which a pick in the late 20's might provide.  They also have plenty of young trade chips they could use to get an extra pick in the draft.  With that in mind, here's a look at some of the international prospects that could catch the Spurs eye.

The San Antonio Spurs have lost the number one seed in the Western Conference for now, but they can still reclaim it. The Los Angeles Lakers are in the last spot for the playoffs, but they can also climb up to number seven if things play out for them. One thing is for sure, the Spurs and Lakers could still meet in the postseason and can rekindle their heated rivalry days of past seasons.

If they do, there's a lot of possibilities on who can win if you ask their respective fan basis and they'll probably be picking their own teams without hesitation.

For Magic Johnson, it's a no brainer. He predicts for former team, Los Angeles Lakers, would defeat the San Antonio Spurs if they were to meet in the first round.

Danny Green is currently the starting shooting guard for the San Antonio Spurs, but there was a time when his future was uncertain. Now inked to a three-year $12 million contract, the 2010-2011 season seems like a distant memory when Green was cut by the Cleveland Cavaliers and had no job in the NBA.

Green gives us a brief account on what he was going through during that time.

“Once you’re out of the league, it’s very hard to get back in, especially as a young guy with no real resume,” Green said. “You don’t really understand the business side of the game until you’re in it. You don’t know how wild it can get, how it can change and how ugly it can get.” (LIPulse.com)

Green was inexperienced and raw at the level he was during his brief stint with the Cavaliers. He was basically an unknown to the professional basketball world and, as we know, college skills aren't guaranteed to translate to the pro level. 

Talk about a blast from the past with this video gem of San Antonio Spurs' Boris Diaw and Denver Nuggets' Evan Fournier.

Before Fournier ever stepped on an NBA court, he shot a video (which shows him just as a kid) in France with a very young and slim Diaw where they both showed off some on-court magic. Aside from Boris getting up for some dunks and showing off his dribbling skills, Fournier showed he had some moves of his own while going one-on-one with Diaw.

Check out Diaw and Fournier hooping it up, including Boris with a helmet-cam as he muscles his way over Fournier to the rim for the dunk.

On this week's episode of the Spurscast, Project Spurs founder Michael De Leon (@mdeleon)  joins me to talk about the playoffs, which are getting closer by the day.

We preview some potential first round matchups for the San Antonio Spurs and talk about who we'd like to avoid in the postseason. 

We also discuss the Spurs' injury problems and how that will hurt their chances of reaching the NBA Finals this year and Mike makes a prediction about Wednesday night's Spurs/Nuggets game that turns out to come true!

The Spurscast. The original Spurs podcast.

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Download

Music: Fall Out Boy -- Tiffany Blews

As always, you can hit me up on Twitter (@KyleBoenitz) for any podcast suggestions or email me at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Manu Ginobili has struggled this season with injuries and is currently sitting out because of one.

He gave San Antonio Spurs fans an update on the condition of is injured hamstring in a column for Argentinian site Canchallena.com including stating he will do everything possible to be back for the playoffs.

The injury was in a location similar to the previous one, the ischio-tibial, but this time in the right leg. I am beginning to jog, following each step as it is, but I had an ultrasound and the tear is there, so what I can do is limited.

Ginobili is reportedly still targeting a return before the playoffs and it was revealed that he'll be out four weeks from the time of his injury. This has been a huge blow for the Spurs and their bench, who have depended on Ginobili's contributions and intangibles this season to balance them out.

With the NBA’s Green Week coming to a close (April 4–12), the NBA and its players took a moment to step away and remind the fans of the need to aware how we use our natural resources.

Danny Green spent took a moment from the battle for the number one seed in the Western Conference to lend a hand to a local San Antonio high school's "Go Green Club" semi-finalist the San Antonio Spurs own Team Up Challenge. 

Check out Green going green (get it?) for the San Antonio community including what the kids had to say about the experience of working with Danny and more.

Injured for San Antonio: Tony Parker, Manu Ginobili, Boris Diaw, Stephen Jackson

Injured for Denver: Ty Lawson, Danillo Gallinari

Yes, the Denver Nuggets were missing two of their key players Wednesday, however the Spurs were missing arguably their best player and almost half of their bench as the Nuggets defeated the Spurs 96-86 in Denver.

The Spurs started the game in a way not many expected, a 12-0 run initiated by Tim Duncan who finished with 17 points and one block in 27 minutes. After going up by as much as 14 points and holding the Nuggets to just 11 points in the first quarter, the defense wouldn’t be the same as the Nuggets took control for the rest of the game.