Player Watch: Spurs healthy again; Amar'e not feeling love

Is there something in the river water down in San Antonio?

In a span of five days, two All-Stars came back to the Spurs miles ahead of schedule. First, Manu Ginobili beat an estimated mid-December return date by hitting the court Nov. 24.

Tony Parker followed his lead Friday against Memphis, only three weeks after spraining his left ankle. The initial diagnosis had the French point guard missing at least four weeks.

Watching his backcourt mate suit up early must have inspired Parker to do the same. He actually wanted to play Wednesday, but was overruled by San Antonio coach Gregg Popovich.

"He wanted me to take my time coming back because I was expected to miss four weeks," Parker said. "I waited and worked on my strength conditioning to be ready to play."

The rest of the Spurs, not just Tim Duncan, more than picked up the slack during the absence of Ginobili and Parker. Rebounding from a 2-5 start, San Antonio climbed above .500 in Ginobili's first game back.

The prudent course, at least from the outside looking in, would seem to be keeping Parker off his ankle a little longer. No sense in rushing him back and risk another injury with the team on an upswing.

Parker wasn't worried.

"Honestly, I felt like I was ready to play," he said. "The team has done a great job during my absence. I just didn't feel the need to rest more. I love the game of basketball and I couldn't wait to get back out on the court."

Parker hasn't missed a step. He's tallied 15 points and seven assists each of his two games since returning, and his minutes went from 17 to 27. Parker is playing his game again -- setting up the offense and attacking the basket without hesitation.

"He's back," Popovich said.

Not favoring the ankle is crucial since the injury occurred on a driving layup attempt against Miami on Nov. 7.

"It feels great," he said. "When you're out for three weeks, all you can think about is getting back on the court and trying to have fun while helping your team win."

The Spurs (9-7) are 1-1 since Parker's comeback going into Tuesday's game with Detroit. Even though the roster is finally whole, San Antonio still has some kinks to work out.

"It's going to take some time especially with Manu getting back into his rhythm," Parker said. "When Manu is healthy we will start calling more plays for him and right now we aren't doing that.

"Once our team gets healthy we can focus on working together. I think this team will be fine with players like George Hill and Roger Mason Jr. stepping up."

Amar'e Stoudemire is not happy with Terry Porter's offense. Specifically, the Suns' All-Star power forward doesn't believe the system installed by Mike D'Antoni's successor suits his game.

"I really don't know," Stoudemire said after last week's loss to Miami. "I put in a lot of hard work this offseason to really take that next step -- to be in that class of D-Wades, the LeBrons and the Dwights.

"I put in that hard work this offseason to be in that class and right now I'm a little frustrated, but I'm just going to keep working, keep trying to find it and being patient with the offense."

Dwyane Wade, LeBron James and Dwight Howard are the go-to guys for their respective teams. The ball in Phoenix starts with Steve Nash before being funneled through Shaquille O'Neal in the halfcourt.

Stoudemire does, however, lead the Suns in scoring by a healthy margin. But his 21.9 average is down from last year's 25.2 despite playing more minutes (38.0 vs. 33.9).

Phoenix, as a team, is scoring considerably less this season under Porter by design. Stoudemire has openly longed for the free-wheeling days of D'Antoni and consistent touches in spots where he can do the most damage.

"Consistency for me would be great," he said. "That way I know what to look forward to and how to attack. That way, when I do get it, I'm not off-balance or surprised I have it."

And there's more on his mind, as Stoudemire admitted he's been thinking about 2010. He could opt-out early to join LeBron, Nash, Wade and rest of that star-studded free-agency class.

What's already been a long season for Minnesota took a turn for the worse. Reserve swingman Corey Brewer is done for this season after tearing the ACL in his right knee in Saturday's loss to Denver.

In his second year out of Florida, Brewer gave the Timberwolves solid play off the bench. He was averaging 6.2 points and 3.3 rebounds in 20.2 minutes, while shooting 41.7 percent beyond the arc.

"This is a tough situation for Corey and we feel for him," Wolves VP of basketball operations Kevin McHale said. "Corey has worked extremely hard on his game. He was starting to really feel comfortable on the floor and was playing well. We'll miss his energy, defensive mindedness and toughness moving forward."

Player Watch is a weekly report on injuries, issues and trends surrounding the league's athletes.