PHOENIX - Patty Mills sat in front of his locker at the Staples Center late Friday night, talking about what finally got the Spurs over the hump in a 119-113 victory over the Los Angeles Lakers.

Suddenly, Boris Diaw leaned in to interrupt.

“It was Patty Mills,” Diaw said, needling. “Seven assists, scoring, doing everything.”

Mills shot back.

“I would have had 10,” he said, “if Boris had made a couple more shots.”

Under normal circumstances, this is the point at which the third member of the Spurs’ international band of merry pranksters might have chimed in with a sarcastic dig. Alas, Manu Ginobili remained at home in San Antonio, recovering from surgery after a gruesome injury to his groin area.

“We miss him,” Mills said.

That has been as apparent on the floor as it is in the locker room.

Even at age 38, Ginobili serves as central nervous system to a Spurs bench vital to the team’s success, with a significance that stretches beyond his 10 points and 3.3 assists per game.

With Ginobili, the Spurs bench boasts a net rating of plus-13.7, tops in the league and almost double the No. 2 bench, belonging to the Toronto Raptors.

In the six games Ginobili has missed since New Orleans’ forward Ryan Anderson caught him with a violent but inadvertent knee Feb. 3, the Spurs bench has produced a net rating of plus 2.

“It’s not like we have to start all over,” forward Kyle Anderson said. “But we’re a man down. Somebody has to fill in, and everybody has to get a feel for that guy, whoever it is.”

That process continues Sunday in Phoenix, the next stop on the Spurs’ rodeo tour.

With Ginobili incapacitated, the Spurs have lacked his unique ability to break down defenses and create for others.

The Spurs’ bench is averaging 42 points over the past six games, in line with their season average. Their assists have dropped from 11.7 per game to 10.8.

Coach Gregg Popovich has tried staggering point guard Tony Parker’s minutes, at times playing him alongside Mills in attempt to give the second unit another attacker.

Yet nothing Popovich does rotation-wise can replicate the magic of Ginobili, one of the NBA’s most unique players.

“He does so many things that, from the outside looking in, you don’t really notice, that don’t show up in a box score,” Anderson said. “He does all the little things to help us out and keep us steady.”

So much about the Spurs’ offense, particularly with the second unit, is predicated on timing.

With another player triggering the pick-and-roll, things can fall out of kilter quickly.

“I don’t know how you can replace that,” Mills said. “Nobody else has his touch or feel for the game.”

There is some urgency for the Spurs’ bench to regroup, since nobody knows for sure when Ginobili might be well enough to play again.

The team initially announced a timetable for recovery of “at least” a month. There is a sense Ginobili could take longer to get back on the court.

And that is only the first step.

Given the nature of the injury - Ginobili has been barred from strenuous activity during the early stages of rehabilitation, and can’t do much to keep in shape - there is genuine concern about how long it might take him to return to form once he is cleared for contact.

“We just hope he gets back soon,” Anderson said. “We need him.”

The Spurs’ bench is coming off a solid outing in the Spurs’ bounce-back win over the Lakers, in which reserves accounted for 50 points, including 15 from Mills and 10 apiece from Diaw and Rasual Butler.

Anderson and rookie Jonathon Simmons have had their playing time inflated since Ginobili went down. With small forward Kawhi Leonard also sidelined the past two games with a calf issue, Butler has seen more action as well.

“We’re just trying to work out what works,” Mills said. “I think we understand that we need to penetrate, get in the paint and find the open man. We’ve got guys who can do that.”

Chief among the Spurs bench players, Ginobili remains the best at it in his 14th NBA season.

Until he returns to the floor, the Spurs must find a way to replace the irreplaceable.

jmcdonald@express-news.net

Twitter: @JMcDonald_SAEN