Spurs' Parker: 'Weird' to play without Tim Duncan

The San Antonio Spurs beat the Golden State Warriors 129-100 on Tuesday at Oracle Arena in a very weird game.

"It's weird, but we have to get used to it," Tony Parker said.

Not "weird" because the Warriors allowed the Spurs an easy season-opening win at their home, but because there's a clear void in San Antonio's identity. For the first time since April 20, 1997, the Spurs were without Tim Duncan. It's something the team will have to figure out as they go.

"Losing Tim, he was like a security blanket for everybody," coach Gregg Popovich said, according to Scott Howard-Cooper of NBA.com. "Even if things went awry, he was like the center of the universe and everybody knew how to act around that. With that pivotal guy gone, we'll have to wait and see who accepts that role."

Duncan was drafted No. 1 in 1997. Five titles, playoff runs in all 19 seasons, and the best winning percentage (.710) of any 19-year stretch in NBA history, it's easy to see why playing without "The Big Fundamental" is strange.

“I think we’re going to start noticing his absence more and more as the season goes, when we struggle," Manu Ginobili said. "Everything’s too new now. I think further into the season we’re going to start missing him even more.”