Which players would he put together on the court, and when?

"It's right by the seat of the pants," he said. "You've got to let it go, let them play and make your decisions as time goes on."

By the time the Spurs had delivered a 113-96 victory before an announced crowd of 18,581, he was no closer to a clue about how his rotations are going to shake out.

The cause of lingering lineup uncertainty: solid play by nearly every player Popovich sent on to the AT&T Center court, including rookie DeJuan Blair, who made his NBA debut a double-double delight, scoring 14 points and grabbing 11 rebounds.

"We got to play a lot of guys," Popovich said, "and a lot of guys played well."

That included Manu Ginobili, the Argentine guard who missed the final six games and playoffs last season with a stress fracture in his right ankle. Ginobili had warned that he was not Basketball ready after a summer of rest and rehabilitation but scored 16 points and handed out four assists in 23:34.

He even produced a Ginobili-esque play in the fourth quarter, following his own bad-pass turnover with a steal that started an end-to-end drive for a spectacular layin. On his way downcourt, he put a wicked crossover dribble on Hornets guard Bobby Brown and went around and past forward Peja Stojakovic with a wraparound dribble.

"I really wasn't expecting to score a lot or play a pretty good game," Ginobili said. "I didn't play good in preseason. But I started making a couple shots, and the team played so well, and it was so good finding open teammates. That made everything much easier for everybody."

Ginobili and Blair each outscored every Spurs starter not named Tony Parker.

Blair's easy transition from preseason sensation to regular-season contributor impressed even Popovich, who had discounted the rookie's preseason work and started the evaluation clock ticking when Blair replaced Tim Duncan with 1:41 remaining in the first quarter.

"He's showing really good maturity," Popovich said. "You just have to give him credit. He's got a great way about him and lets the game come to him. He didn't do anything outside the realm of his ability. He just played the game, and I was real impressed with that."

Roger Mason Jr., who started 71 games last season, found himself back on the bench at tipoff.

When he got in, he went right to work firing 3-pointers, and while he made only 1 of 5 from long range, he made 4 of 6 inside the arc, scoring 11 points.

He did not consider his reserve role a demotion.

"It's crazy," he said. "This is the deepest team I've ever been a part of, especially at the wings. We've got five wings who could be NBA starters.

"Pop knows what he's doing. Whatever he says at the start of the game, whoever's starting, we'll come off the bench and be ready."

So thorough were the contributions off the Spurs' bench that no starter needed to play more than Matt Bonner's 28:52.

Parker had a team-high 17 points and added six assists in 26:17.

Michael Finley was the only Spurs starter to play in the fourth quarter, mostly because he had logged only 16 minutes through the first three periods.

Sitting the starters was a luxury in a game that preceded a late-night flight to Chicago for tonight's game against the Bulls.

"You see what the game gives and make adjustments as it goes," Popovich said. "The main thing is that in the back-to-back situation, having to play tomorrow, we didn't have to play our main guys 35 or 40 minutes. We were fortunate tonight."