Moe Ager gets start

From inactive to the starting lineup. That’s been the last two games for Moe Ager, who opened at shooting guard against the Spurs.

It marked the second career start for the last year’s first-round pick out of Michigan State. It gave Ager a chance to impress the coaching staff during Eddie Jones’ absence. He was on the inactive list for Tuesday’s win over Philadelphia.

“I’m happy to get the opportunity to help this team,” Ager said.

Ager was solid early, playing the first 11:31 of the game. He has a couple fastbreak baskets, including a two-handed slam to punctuate a 16-1 run that led to a San Antonio timeout. He finished with five points in 21 minutes.

“We thought he was OK overall,” Avery Johnson said. “He didn’t do anything crazy and he bought us 20 minutes. I was only hoping for a good 16. He was real disciplined in his approach and he made one mistake defensively that gave a three to Bowen in the corner, but it is a game of mistakes.

“That is just the way we feel we need to go right now and we are going to give that a look. Even if he would have played bad tonight, talking to my coaches, I felt I need to start him the next game.

He learned he was starting at the morning shootaround, but Avery Johnson hinted that he would start after Ager aced a defensive-oriented pop quiz after practice Wednesday.

“I’m still trying to settle on a 2-guard right now,” Johnson said. “The guy that we planned on, we knew he might have to deal with some injury issues. He’s out right now. It’s a revolving door there.”

Johnson is committed to keeping the rotation intact by bringing Jason Terry and Jerry Stackhouse off the bench. Johnson’s other option would have been Trenton Hassell. Like Jones, Hassell was brought in to add depth at shooting guard.

“Hassell hasn’t played the way we want him to play yet,” Johnson said.