Lucky Spurs Win Lottery, Eye Duncan

The San Antonio Spurs won the NBA Draft Lottery on Sunday, setting up the possibility of a front-court featuring David Robinson and Wake Forest’s Tim Duncan, the player expected to be the top choice.

In getting the No. 1 pick, the Spurs jumped ahead of Vancouver and Boston, both of which had better chances of winning the so-called Duncan sweepstakes.

“I’m sure Tim Duncan is the man we are going to look at,” said Spurs chairman Peter Holt, whose team finished 21-61 in a season in which Robinson was sidelined virtually the whole year.

Boston and new coach Rick Pitino had the best chance at winning the lottery, having their own pick and one it acquired from Dallas in a trade for Eric Montross. That gave the Celtics 264 chances out of 1,000 at winning, but it wasn’t enough.

Vancouver, which was not eligible for the top pick under its expansion agreement, was the big loser. It dropped to fourth overall after none of its 250 chances was drawn in the lottery for the top three spots.

Philadelphia got the second pick, moving up from No. 5 in the predraft order. Boston slipped to No. 3, denying the city a chance at the No. 1 picks in both hockey and basketball.

Denver slipped from fourth to fifth in the June 25 draft. After that the order stayed the same. Boston got the sixth pick based on it using the Dallas choice. New Jersey was seventh and was followed by Golden State, Toronto, Milwaukee, Sacramento, Indiana and Cleveland.