The San Antonio Spurs have been missing their big man Tim Duncan for a week now, but the team hasn't missed a beat. They hosted a tough Utah Jazz squad last night, got 37 off the bench from Manu Ginobili, and won the game 104-98 to retain an unblemished home record.

Reports earlier in the week said Duncan might be able to suit up for Friday's game, but his sprained ankle was still not all the way back and Gregg Popovich was taking no chances. Duncan's absence did give Utah an advantage inside - they outscored San Antonio 54-20 in the paint - but the Spurs' guards took up the slack. Ginobili went for 37, 8 boards and 6 assists, while Tony Parker added 16 points and 7 dimes.

Contrast the Spurs' success minus Duncan (over only two games, I grant) with what has happened to the Cavs since losing LeBron James to a finger injury. Cleveland has played four full games since then and dropped all of them, by an average score of 94-80. And now it's been announced that James will miss tonight's game with Charlotte as well. It hasn't helped Cleveland to also be without Larry Hughes, Donyell Marshall and Anderson Varejao of course, but if they had LeBron, they'd be able to survive missing those guys.

The point here is that, on the surface at least, it appears LeBron is more important to the Cavs than Duncan is to the Spurs. Not that I think the Spurs would be the same team over a whole season without Duncan - clearly he's an MVP candidate every year, and if San Antonio lost him for a significant period, they would see diminishing returns. But, what this demonstrates is how versatile San Antonio is as a team. They lose their big man and get dominated in the paint, so they simply adjust their game to take advantage of the quickness and playmaking they have at the guard position.

This is why San Antonio is always in it - they're a multi-dimensional team with a lot of players who can do a lot of things. Cleveland, on the other hand, is one-dimensional, and that dimension is named LeBron. Without James, they would quickly sink to the bottom of the Eastern Conference and stay there. San Antonio without Duncan would at least be able to survive, I believe, and perhaps even make the playoffs. It's the difference between a team that's a real team, and one that's merely a superstar surrounded by a bunch of other guys.