The older man leans his left shoulder into the wall as he stands there, uttering words only one other person can hear. He wears a brace on his left knee and holds a gym towel in his hand.

As far as the rest of the world knows, he could be talking about comic books.

The younger man stands less than two feet away, his shoulder blades pressed against the same wall. With one leg crossed over the other, he stares straight ahead. Every now and then he nods.

If this conversation really is about superheroes, the younger man is the one nobody believes in anymore.

This was the scene Tuesday afternoon inside the Spurs’ practice facility, where the most important adjustment the team could make was the one requiring osmosis. If only Tim Duncan could transfer a couple of powers to LaMarcus Aldridge through proximity.

To be sure, Aldridge is not a Duncan replacement, nor was he ever intended to be. Such expectations would be both unrealistic and unfair, and the Spurs do not necessarily need another version of vintage Duncan to climb back into the Western Conference semifinals against the Rockets.

What they could use is just a little bit of vintage Aldridge.

Say what you will about how Aldridge has swallowed his pride since arriving in San Antonio, how he has committed himself to defending and fitting into a system. Let’s concede that point, and also acknowledge that he was not the only Spur who struggled in a Game 1 blowout on Monday.

But it is not unreasonable to expect a 6-foot-11 five-time All-Star making $80 million to score when he is posted up on Houston point guard Patrick Beverley. It is not unreasonable to expect him occasionally to exploit Houston’s one obvious weakness, which is interior defense.

And it is not unreasonable to expect the Spurs’ second-best player to start living up to that billing before it is too late.

After all, he expects it himself.

“I definitely have to help out Kawhi (Leonard),” Aldridge said. “I have to take my time down there and make them pay.”

That’s what Duncan used to do. In the biggest games, he exuded the right blend of patience and confidence. Aldridge, having never advanced beyond the second round of the playoffs, simply might not be used to this pressure yet.

He didn’t handle it well in Game 1, when he made only 2 of 7 shots and finished with four points. Given a mismatch against Beverley, he backed down. Other times, in the post against Ryan Anderson, he gave up the ball instead of going at a player who most interior scorers love to attack.

This was a far cry from the man who scored 46 points in a playoff game against the Rockets only three years ago. Whether it is due to ebbing confidence or waning abilities, that force of nature is tough to spot these days.

Houston, though, remembers that All-Star, and claims to be wary of him. Asked about the difference between the Aldridge of 2014 and the Aldridge of the present, Rockets guard James Harden paused and swallowed hard, clearly trying to be diplomatic.

“We all know how talented and gifted he is,” Harden said.

Aldridge’s coaches and teammates know it, too, and they all insist he’s fine. Patty Mills, who played with Aldridge in Portland, said it might be as simple as coaxing him into relaxing and getting out of his own head.

“It helps to have a reminder, ‘Don’t think. Just go out and play,’” Mills said. “I don’t think it’s only him.”

Along those lines, the best advice for Aldridge is no different than it is for the rest of the Spurs.

“We need to play like ourselves,” Danny Green said.

One way to do that would be to make a few jump shots and get a few stops, which should help slow the pace. But even then, there likely will be a brief stretch, maybe when Leonard is off the floor, when the Spurs need Aldridge to carry them.

This will be the part of the story when the villains have him cornered, and his superpowers seem useless, and no one expects him to escape. In that moment, maybe Aldridge will think back to a conversation he had with an older man standing next to a wall.

And hope something rubbed off.

mfinger@express-news.net

Twitter: @mikefinger