CBSSports.com wire reports
Jan. 2, 2012

MINNEAPOLIS — Rick Adelman was wondering how his young Minnesota Timberwolves would handle their first taste of prosperity.

He couldn’t have been much happier after watching them thump the San Antonio Spurs, who now find themselves knee deep in adversity with the loss of star guard Manu Ginobili.

Kevin Lovehad 24 points and 15 rebounds to lead the Timberwolves to their second win in a row, 106-96 Monday night over the Spurs, who lost Ginobili to a broken left hand.

Luke Ridnour had 19 points and nine assists and Wes Johnson broke out of a shooting slump with 14 points and 6-for-6 shooting for the Timberwolves, who snapped an 18-game losing streak with a win over Dallas on Sunday.

“You’re not satisfied with last night, you build off of it,” said Adelman, whose Wolves scored 65 points in the first half on the second night of a back-to-back. “That’s what I just told them. We’ve got two more home games on this homestand and we want to build off it.”

Ginobili injured his shooting hand in the second quarter. The two-time All-Star will be examined in San Antonio on Tuesday.

“It’s going to be tough for us because he was playing at an All-Star level,” said point guard Tony Parker, who had 11 points and nine assists. “And now we’re going to have to have everybody pick it up.”

Tim Duncan had 16 points and five assists and Richard Jefferson scored 16 points for the Spurs.

The Timberwolves shot 58 percent for the game and were above 70 percent shooting midway through the third quarter.

Playing with five stitches in the index finger on his shooting hand, Michael Beasley had 19 points on 8-of-15 shooting and Johnson bounced back after going 3 for 13 in his previous two games.

“I was pressing,” Johnson said. “I was trying to find my shot moreso than letting it come to me. As I saw tonight, if I just be patient, it’s there.”

The Spurs will get over the loss to Minnesota quickly. The loss of Ginobili could linger for a while.

The team’s leading scorer is the emotional and fiery center of this proud, veteran team. With Duncan getting older and having his minutes limited to save him for the postseason, the offense revolves around Ginobili’s perimeter shooting and slashing to the basket.

“Manu is pretty important to us and we lost him,” Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said. “We’ll just have to deal with it.”

The former Sixth Man of the Year quickly walked to the locker room after he was injured for X-rays, which revealed a broken fifth metacarpal on his shooting hand.

“He means a lot to the team,” said James Anderson, who figures to get a lot of the playing time in Ginobili’s absence. “He’s one of the biggest plusses to the team. Without him we lose a lot of stuff, and that’s on both ends.”

Without Ginobili’s offensive punch, the Spurs simply couldn’t keep up with Minnesota’s torrid shooting.

The Spurs have hung their hats on the defensive end for years, building a championship foundation that let opponents know they were going to have to work for every bucket against Duncan and Co. Coming into the game, they held their previous two opponents to 4 for 33 on 3-pointers.

That’s why it was so startling to see the Timberwolves have such an easy time on Monday night. They shot a scorching 67 percent from the field in the first half, including 7 for 8 from 3-point range. A lot of those were wide open looks for Love, who buried 3 of 4 from long range thanks to superb ball movement from Ridnour and Ricky Rubio at the point.

The Wolves hit 12 of 21 shots from deep for the game.

Rubio, the impressive rookie from Spain, was quiet with six points and three assists in 24 minutes, but the veteran Ridnour more than picked up the slack by hitting seven of his 10 shots and two of three 3-pointers.

“There’s going to be so many games this year, if you can try to find a way to get on a run at home, it’s going to help you in the long run,” Ridnour said. “To be able to win two in a row against Dallas and San Antonio, for this team, is huge.”

Notes

• Timberwolves G JJ Barea sat out the game to rest his strained right hamstring.
• Spurs G Gary Neal, who has not played this season because of an appendectomy, has been assigned to the D-League Austin Toros to get some practice time in before rejoining the team.
• Danny Green played a solid 17 minutes for the Spurs, scoring nine points and playing tough defense on Rubio.

Thanks for reading! .

The San Antonio Spurs will be without one of their top players for the next few weeks after Manu Ginobili broke his left hand in Monday night’s 106-96 loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves.

The injury occurred with 2:38 remaining in the first half when Timberwolves forward Anthony Tolliver tried to strip Ginobili of the ball as he attempted a shot from near the arc.

“I have the 5th metacarpal of my left hand fractured. I guess I’ll miss a few weeks. Sad day 4 me,” Ginobili tweeted after the game on his account, @manuginobili.

X-rays taken at the arena confirmed the break, according to the San Antonio Express-News. The two-time All-Star will be examined in San Antonio on Tuesday.

Ginobili leads the Spurs in scoring this season at 17.4 points per game and was shooting a team-high 59 percent from the field.

”It’s going to be tough for us because he was playing at an All-Star
level,” said point guard Tony Parker, who had 11 points and nine
assists. ”And now we’re going to have to have everybody pick it up.”

The Spurs will get over the loss to Minnesota quickly. The loss of Ginobili could linger for a while.

The
team’s leading scorer is the emotional and fiery center of this proud,
veteran team. With Tim Duncan getting older and having his minutes limited
to save him for the postseason, the offense revolves around Ginobili’s
perimeter shooting and slashing to the basket.

”Manu is pretty important to us and we lost him,” Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said. ”We’ll just have to deal with it.”

”He means a lot to the team,” said James
Anderson, who figures to get a lot of the playing time in Ginobili’s
absence. ”He’s one of the biggest plusses to the team. Without him we
lose a lot of stuff, and that’s on both ends.”

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Running low on time today, i’ll be back tomorrow hopefully with some more news.

SAN ANTONIO: The San Antonio Spurs, not quite ready to be written off as too old and too slow to claim an NBA crown, routed the Los Angeles Clippers 115-90 on Wed­nes­day.

Manu Ginobili scored 24 points, leading six Spurs players who scored in double figures.

DeJuan Blair added 20 and Richard Jefferson chipped in 19. Tony Parker scored 14 points with nine assists, Tim Duncan scored 10 with eight rebounds and James Anderson added 12 off the bench as the Spurs shot 56.3% from the field.

The Spurs also made all 15 of their free throws, but coach Gregg Popovich said defence was the key to victory.

“Shots went in tonight,” Popovich said. “That’s what happens. Some nights they don’t drop. Tonight the best part of our game was defence.”

And that’s what was lacking for the Clippers, coach Vinny Del Negro said.

“Give San Antonio credit – they were cutting hard, they were moving the basketball, we were very stagnant,” he said. “We weren’t physical. We weren’t contesting shots…

“We played terrible, just from start to finish tonight,” Del Negro said.

“We had a little glimpse in the second quarter, I thought we did some good things. But they jumped on us in the third and we were just chasing them the rest of the game.”

The Clippers have been touted as a potential new power in the Western Conference after the arrival of All-Star point guard Chris Paul to team with Blake Griffin, the explosive talent who earned Rookie of the Year honours last season.

Griffin led the Clippers with 28 points, while Paul scored 10 on 3-of-10 shooting.

The Spurs, long a Western Conference force, won 61 games last season but were surprised in the first round of the playoffs by a young, energetic Memphis team, sparking predictions that the team led by 35-year-old Duncan and featuring 34-year-old Ginobili and 29-year-old Parker had passed their prime.

In their first two games of this lockout-shortened season, however, the Spurs have now beaten both Memphis and the Clippers.

San Antonio led by as many as 12 points before Griffin capped a Clippers surge by soaring for a basket that knotted the score at 52-52 late in the second quarter.

A Ginobili three-pointer saw the Spurs take a 58-54 lead at half-time, and San Antonio took firm control in the third period, when they out-scored Los Angeles by 21 points to take a 96-71 lead.

The comfortable victory meant Popovich was able to give his stars some rest. Duncan played 25 minutes, Parker 26 and Ginobili 27.

“You wouldn’t trade it,” Popovich said of the luxury of resting his veterans for significant minutes.

It could prove especially important in the hectic, lockout-shortened season.

“It was a good night for us, and to get some rest was surely welcome,” Popovich said.

In New Orleans, Jarrett Jack had 21 points and nine assists in his regular-season debut, and New Orleans dominated in their home opener, beating the winless Boston Celtics 97-78.

Danny Granger scored nine of his 21 points in the fourth quarter as Indiana Pacers beat the Raptors 90 to 85. Paul George had 18 points, David West scored 14 and Roy Hibbert had 12 points and 10 rebounds.

At Auburn Hills, Michigan, rookie Kyrie Irving had 14 points and seven assists to help Cleveland Cavaliers beat Detroit 105 to 89, spoiling the Pistons’ first home opener with new owner Tom Gores.

Meanwhile Joe Johnson led another balanced attack with 18 points as as Atlanta beat Washington 101 to 83.

At Denver, Nene scored 25 points, reserve Al Harrington had 18 points and seven rebounds, and Denver rolled over the Utah 117 to 100.

At Charlotte, North Carolina, Dwyane Wade hit a bank shot over Gerald Henderson with 2.9 seconds left to lift unbeaten Miami over Charlotte 96 to 95.

In the other games Oklahoma City beat Memphis 98 to 95, Golden State beat New York 92-78, Philadelphia routed Phoenix 103 to 83, Atlanta beat Washington 101 to 83. — Agencies

That’s all for today guys, i’ll be back to blog you tomorrow.

CBSSports.com wire reports
Dec. 28, 2011

SAN ANTONIO — The Los Angeles Clippers might be the talk of the Western Conference right now, but the San Antonio Spurs showed they still have plenty of life left.

Manu Ginobili scored 24 points and DeJuan Blair added 20 to lead the Spurs to a 115-90 win over the Clippers on Wednesday night.

Blake Griffin scored 28 points for the Clippers, while Chris Paul was held to 3-of-10 shooting and finished with 10 points.

Richard Jefferson added 19 points on 8-of-9 shooting for the Spurs, who have won 17 straight home games against the Clippers, a streak that dates to Jan. 31, 2002. Tony Parker scored 14 points, James Anderson 12 and Tim Duncan 10.

The Spurs hit 45 of 80 shots from the field while limiting the Clippers to 29-of-74 shooting. San Antonio led by only four points at halftime but outscored Los Angeles 38-17 in the third quarter to take control.

“Our defense in the second half was great,” Ginobili said. “They couldn’t get lobs. They scored under 40 in the second half. We were pretty good on defense. We moved the ball, and everybody scored.”

San Antonio outscored Los Angeles 57-36 in the second half.

“They tore us apart in that third quarter,” Griffin said. “Our defense needs to be better, and it can get better. The good thing about the mistakes out there is that they are easily correctable.”

While Blair didn’t limit Griffin’s scoring, he was able to do enough offensively to nearly offset him.

“I try to read them,” Blair said. “They’re very athletic. They jump high. I jump a little bit, but I’m undersized, so I just try to read them. Just look for schemes to get around the taller defenders. I watch a lot of Charles Barkley and Karl Malone, try to get a low shot. But I’m doing great with what I’m doing.”

The Clippers weren’t able to get closer than 19 in the fourth quarter. After DeAndre Jordan’s free throw made it 98-79, Ginobili hit a 3-pointer then found Blair for a short jumper to put the Spurs up 103-79.

“They’re dunkers,” Blair said while laughing when asked about the Clippers being called Lob City. “But, yeah, not tonight.

The Spurs hit 16 of 21 shots in the third, with Parker scoring 10 on 4-of-4 shooting from the field and 2 of 2 from the free throw line. Anderson converted a three-point play with 0.3 seconds left in the quarter to give San Antonio its biggest lead of the game at that point – 96-71.

“We were down four, and I look up to see we are down 68-58 at one point,” Paul said. “We are going to practice tomorrow and figure out what we did right and figure out what we did wrong. First things first, we need to start with me.”

The Spurs led 58-54 at halftime behind 16 points from Ginobili, who hit 4 of 6 attempts from 3-point range in the half.

Blair added 12 points on 6-of-8 shooting and Jefferson had 10, including a pair of 3-pointers. Griffin had 16 points in the first two quarters and scored all but four of those points on either layups or dunks.

San Antonio led by as many as 15 points in the first half, but the Clippers went on a 16-4 run and tied the game 52-all on Griffin’s dunk with 47 seconds left in the half.

The Spurs led 26-19 entering the second quarter after holding the Clippers to 8-of-22 shooting in the first. The Clippers jumped out to a 5-0 lead, but Ginobili responded by scoring the next nine points. Ginobili sandwiched two 3-pointers around three free throws after he was fouled by Chauncey Billups on a 3-pointer.

I’m kind of surprised,” Ginobili said of the team’s 2-0 start. “I didn’t think that the team was ready to have two games like this — to be so solid defensively. We’re looking sharp, but I don’t want to get too confident. I don’t think it’s fair or it’s true. We still have a long way to go. It just so happened we played two very good games.”

Notes

• Jordan hit 4 of 6 free throws. He went 4 of 12 in the opener against Golden State.
• Since Dec. 10, 1997, the Spurs have won 47 of 52 against the Clippers.
• The Spurs are off to a 2-0 start for the first time since 2008.
• The big win allowed the Spurs to rest several key players. Duncan played 26 minutes, while Ginobili and Parker played only 27.
• Caron Butler and Mo Williams each had 12 points for the Clippers. Billups had 11. Ginobili hit 5 of 8 3-pointers and 7 of 7 free throws.

Comment Below!.

That’s all for today guys, i’ll be back to blog you tomorrow.

Running low on time today, i’ll be back tomorrow hopefully with some more news.

That’s all the news for today.

Gotta run!.

SAN ANTONIO (AP)

The Los Angeles Clippers might be the talk of the Western Conference right now, but the San Antonio Spurs showed they still have plenty of life left.

Manu Ginobili scored 24 points and DeJuan Blair added 20 to lead the Spurs to a 115-90 win over the Clippers on Wednesday night.

Blake Griffin scored 28 points for the Clippers, while Chris Paul was held to 3-of-10 shooting and finished with 10 points.

Richard Jefferson added 19 points on 8-of-9 shooting for the Spurs, who have won 17 straight home games against the Clippers, a streak that dates to Jan. 31, 2002. Tony Parker scored 14 points, James Anderson 12 and Tim Duncan 10.

The Spurs hit 45 of 80 shots from the field while limiting the Clippers to 29-of-74 shooting. San Antonio led by only four points at halftime but outscored Los Angeles 38-17 in the third quarter to take control.

”Our defense in the second half was great,” Ginobili said. ”They couldn’t get lobs. They scored under 40 in the second half. We were pretty good on defense. We moved the ball, and everybody scored.”

San Antonio outscored Los Angeles 57-36 in the second half.

”They tore us apart in that third quarter,” Griffin said. ”Our defense needs to be better, and it can get better. The good thing about the mistakes out there is that they are easily correctable.”

While Blair didn’t limit Griffin’s scoring, he was able to do enough offensively to nearly offset him.

”I try to read them,” Blair said. ”They’re very athletic. They jump high. I jump a little bit, but I’m undersized, so I just try to read them. Just look for schemes to get around the taller defenders. I watch a lot of Charles Barkley and Karl Malone, try to get a low shot. But I’m doing great with what I’m doing.”

The Clippers weren’t able to get closer than 19 in the fourth quarter. After DeAndre Jordan’s free throw made it 98-79, Ginobili hit a 3-pointer then found Blair for a short jumper to put the Spurs up 103-79.

”They’re dunkers,” Blair said while laughing when asked about the Clippers being called Lob City. ”But, yeah, not tonight.

The Spurs hit 16 of 21 shots in the third, with Parker scoring 10 on 4-of-4 shooting from the field and 2 of 2 from the free throw line. Anderson converted a three-point play with 0.3 seconds left in the quarter to give San Antonio its biggest lead of the game at that point – 96-71.

”We were down four, and I look up to see we are down 68-58 at one point,” Paul said. ”We are going to practice tomorrow and figure out what we did right and figure out what we did wrong. First things first, we need to start with me.”

The Spurs led 58-54 at halftime behind 16 points from Ginobili, who hit 4 of 6 attempts from 3-point range in the half.

Blair added 12 points on 6-of-8 shooting and Jefferson had 10, including a pair of 3-pointers. Griffin had 16 points in the first two quarters and scored all but four of those points on either layups or dunks.

San Antonio led by as many as 15 points in the first half, but the Clippers went on a 16-4 run and tied the game 52-all on Griffin’s dunk with 47 seconds left in the half.

The Spurs led 26-19 entering the second quarter after holding the Clippers to 8-of-22 shooting in the first. The Clippers jumped out to a 5-0 lead, but Ginobili responded by scoring the next nine points. Ginobili sandwiched two 3-pointers around three free throws after he was fouled by Chauncey Billups on a 3-pointer.

I’m kind of surprised,” Ginobili said of the team’s 2-0 start. ”I didn’t think that the team was ready to have two games like this — to be so solid defensively. We’re looking sharp, but I don’t want to get too confident. I don’t think it’s fair or it’s true. We still have a long way to go. It just so happened we played two very good games.”

Notes: Jordan hit 4 of 6 free throws. He went 4 of 12 in the opener against Golden State. … Since Dec. 10, 1997, the Spurs have won 47 of 52 against the Clippers. … The Spurs are off to a 2-0 start for the first time since 2008. … The big win allowed the Spurs to rest several key players. Duncan played 26 minutes, while Ginobili and Parker played only 27. … Caron Butler and Mo Williams each had 12 points for the Clippers. Billups had 11 . Ginobili hit 5 of 8 3-pointers and 7 of 7 free throws.

What do you guys think about this.

Manu Ginobili scored 24 points and DeJuan Blair added 20 to lead
the San Antonio Spurs to a 115-90 win over the Los Angeles Clippers
on Wednesday night.

Blake Griffin scored 28 points for the Clippers, while Chris
Paul was held to 3-of-10 shooting and finished with 10 points.

Richard Jefferson added 19 points on 8-of-9 shooting for the
Spurs, who have won 17 straight home games against the Clippers, a
streak that dates to Jan. 31, 2002. Tony Parker scored 14 points,
James Anderson 12 and Tim Duncan 10.

The Spurs hit 45 of 80 shots from the field while limiting the
Clippers to 29-of-74 shooting. San Antonio led by only four points
at halftime but outscored Los Angeles 38-17 in the third quarter to
take control.

The Clippers weren’t able to get closer than 19 in the fourth
quarter. After a DeAndre Jordan free throw made it 98-79, Ginobili
hit a 3-pointer then found Blair for a short jumper to put the
Spurs up 103-79.

The Spurs hit 16 of 21 shots in the third, with Parker scoring
10 on 4-of-4 shooting from the field and 2 of 2 from the free-throw
line. Anderson converted a three-point play with 0.3 seconds left
in the quarter to give San Antonio its biggest lead of the game _
96-71.

The Spurs led 58-54 at halftime behind 16 points from Ginobili,
who hit 4 of 6 attempts from 3-point range in the half.

Blair added 12 points on 6-of-8 shooting and Jefferson had 10,
including a pair of 3-pointers.

Griffin had 16 points in the first two quarters and scored all
but four of those points on either layups or dunks.

San Antonio led by as many as 15 points in the first half, going
up 38-23 on a James Anderson layup with 8:19 remaining in the
second quarter. The Clippers went on a 16-4 run after that, sparked
by two 3-pointers by Billups and one by Caron Butler. Los Angeles
tied the game 52-all on a Griffin dunk with 47.9 seconds left in
the half.

The Spurs led 26-19 entering the second quarter after holding
the Clippers to 8-of-22 shooting in the first. The Clippers jumped
out to a 5-0 lead, but Ginobili responded by scoring the next nine
points. Ginobili sandwiched two 3-pointers around three free throws
after he was fouled by Billups on a 3-pointer.

Blair scored 10 points in the quarter on 5-of-7 shooting, and
Griffin led the Clippers with 10 points.

Notes: Clippers C DeAndre Jordan hit 4 of 6 free throws. He went
4 of 12 in the opener against Golden State. … Since Dec. 10,
1997, the Spurs have won 47 of 52 against the Clippers. … The
Spurs are off to a 2-0 start for the first time since 2008. … The
big win allowed the Spurs to rest several key players. Duncan
played 26 minutes, while Ginobili and Parker played only 27. …
Butler and Mo Williams each had 12 points for the Clippers. Billups
had 11.

Gotta run!.

Published Tuesday, December 27, 2011 12:22 AM

Associated Press

SAN ANTONIO — Manu Ginobili never saw the Memphis Grizzlies play that badly in the playoffs, and is pretty sure he won’t again.

But the San Antonio Spurs will take it.

Ginobili scored 24 points and San Antonio ran away from what barely resembled the up-and-coming Memphis team that stunned the 61-win Spurs in the first round last season, beating the Grizzlies 95-82 on Monday night.

San Antonio began what could be Tim Duncan’s final season with a satisfying bit of payback but otherwise didn’t read much into the victory. Take Zach Randolph and Marc Gasol, who utterly bullied the Spurs in that playoff series but combined for just 23 points this time.

“Zac was off. He didn’t have of these games in the playoffs,” Ginobili said. “That happens the first game of the season. We all need time to get back in shape. “

Rudy Gay led Memphis with 19 points and 10 rebounds in his first game in nearly 10 months. Gay missed the end of last season with a bad left shoulder, including when Memphis knocked out the top-seeded Spurs.

Yet even with the full starting lineup that Memphis would’ve preferred in last year’s playoffs, the Grizzlies still remained winless on opening night since the franchise left Vancouver in 2001.

Not quite the start the NBA’s breakout team of last season had in mind.

“We didn’t play very well. We did turn the ball over alot, but we didn’t guard,” Memphis coach Lionel Hollins said. “We didn’t guard them in the pick in roll. We gave up transition points. It was not a very well-played game by us at all.”

The Grizzlies committed 24 turnovers. Randolph had 10 points and six rebounds and Gasol had 13 and six. In the playoffs series against the Spurs, Randolph averaged 21.5 points.

It’s not like the Spurs got any bigger to defend the Grizzlies’ big frontline. DeJuan Blair, the 6-foot-7 center deemed too ineffective by coach Gregg Popovich to even play Games 5 and 6 against Memphis, was back in the starting lineup.

The Spurs have precious few alternatives: forward Antonio McDyess officially retired in training camp, and they haven’t added a big man to replace him. Yet San Antonio was helped by 7-footer Tiago Splitter, who didn’t look as lost as he did as rookie against Memphis last season.

“He was really solid,” Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said. “He stayed in good position, he blocked shots and he rebounded. He was real special tonight.”

Mike Conley had 11 points and seven assists for the Grizzlies. Memphis led by one at halftime but were blown out in the third quarter after shooting just 29 percent from the floor.

Despite the loss, Gay was satisfied with his return.

“It’s kind of bittersweet we lost, but it good that I’m healthy and I can get out there and play,” he said.

Richard Jefferson, once thought to be a goner in San Antonio under the NBA’s new amnesty clause, added 14 points for the Spurs. Duncan had 10 points in 22 minutes as the challenge of rationing the 35-year-old’s minutes in a compressed, grueling schedule began.

Duncan is playing in the final year of his contract but hasn’t said whether this will be his last run for a fifth title.

If Duncan and the Spurs have one last championship run left in them, there was no better first test than Memphis. The bigger and quicker Grizzlies gave the aging Spurs fits in the playoffs last April even without Gay, who had been Memphis’ second-leading scorer.

For opening night, at least, San Antonio showed it can still keep up.

Leonard can take some credit for that. The 15th overall pick brought a jolt off the bench in the third quarter when the Spurs opened up a 19-point lead despite trailing at halftime. Leonard had six points during the stretch, including hitting a corner 3-pointer after catching a nifty behind-the-back pass from Ginobili.

Leonard is the centerpiece of what the Spurs are calling their youth movement — seven of their 13 players have fewer than three years of experience. But the face and fortunes of the franchise still firmly belong to Parker, Ginobili and Duncan, who started their 10th season together.

Notes: Heisman Trophy winner Robert Griffin III watched the game with some of his Baylor teammates. The Bears are in town to play Washington in the Alamo Bowl on Thursday…Academy Award winner Tommy Lee Jones, who owns a home in San Antonio, sat courtside with Spurs owner Peter Holt. …The Spurs remain without G Gary Neal after the second-year backup had his appendix removed during training camp.

Leave your comments on the news below.

CBSSports.com wire reports
Dec. 26, 2011

SAN ANTONIO — Manu Ginobili never saw the Memphis Grizzlies play that badly in the playoffs, and is pretty sure he won’t again.

But the San Antonio Spurs will take it.

Ginobili scored 24 points and San Antonio ran away from what barely resembled the up-and-coming Memphis team that stunned the 61-win Spurs in the first round last season, beating the Grizzlies 95-82 on Monday night.

San Antonio began what could be Tim Duncan’s final season with a satisfying bit of payback but otherwise didn’t read much into the victory. Take Zach Randolph and Marc Gasol, who utterly bullied the Spurs in that playoff series but combined for just 23 points this time.

“Zac was off. He didn’t have of these games in the playoffs,” Ginobili said. “That happens the first game of the season. We all need time to get back in shape. ”

Rudy Gay led Memphis with 19 points and 10 rebounds in his first game in nearly 10 months. Gay missed the end of last season with a bad left shoulder, including when Memphis knocked out the top-seeded Spurs.

Yet even with the full starting lineup that Memphis would’ve preferred in last year’s playoffs, the Grizzlies still remained winless on opening night since the franchise left Vancouver in 2001.

Not quite the start the NBA’s breakout team of last season had in mind.

“We didn’t play very well. We did turn the ball over alot, but we didn’t guard,” Memphis coach Lionel Hollins said. “We didn’t guard them in the pick in roll. We gave up transition points. It was not a very well-played game by us at all.”

The Grizzlies committed 24 turnovers. Randolph had 10 points and six rebounds and Gasol had 13 and six. In the playoffs series against the Spurs, Randolph averaged 21.5 points.

It’s not like the Spurs got any bigger to defend the Grizzlies’ big frontline. DeJuan Blair, the 6-foot-7 center deemed too ineffective by coach Gregg Popovich to even play Games 5 and 6 against Memphis, was back in the starting lineup.

The Spurs have precious few alternatives: forward Antonio McDyess officially retired in training camp, and they haven’t added a big man to replace him. Yet San Antonio was helped by 7-footer Tiago Splitter, who didn’t look as lost as he did as rookie against Memphis last season.

“He was really solid,” Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said. “He stayed in good position, he blocked shots and he rebounded. He was real special tonight.”

Mike Conley had 11 points and seven assists for the Grizzlies. Memphis led by one at halftime but were blown out in the third quarter after shooting just 29 percent from the floor.

Despite the loss, Gay was satisfied with his return.

“It’s kind of bittersweet we lost, but it good that I’m healthy and I can get out there and play,” he said.

Richard Jefferson, once thought to be a goner in San Antonio under the NBA’s new amnesty clause, added 14 points for the Spurs. Duncan had 10 points in 22 minutes as the challenge of rationing the 35-year-old’s minutes in a compressed, grueling schedule began.

Duncan is playing in the final year of his contract but hasn’t said whether this will be his last run for a fifth title.

If Duncan and the Spurs have one last championship run left in them, there was no better first test than Memphis. The bigger and quicker Grizzlies gave the aging Spurs fits in the playoffs last April even without Gay, who had been Memphis’ second-leading scorer.

For opening night, at least, San Antonio showed it can still keep up.

Leonard can take some credit for that. The 15th overall pick brought a jolt off the bench in the third quarter when the Spurs opened up a 19-point lead despite trailing at halftime. Leonard had six points during the stretch, including hitting a corner 3-pointer after catching a nifty behind-the-back pass from Ginobili.

Leonard is the centerpiece of what the Spurs are calling their youth movement — seven of their 13 players have fewer than three years of experience. But the face and fortunes of the franchise still firmly belong to Parker, Ginobili and Duncan, who started their 10th season together.

Notes

• Heisman Trophy winner Robert Griffin III watched the game with some of his Baylor teammates. The Bears are in town to play Washington in the Alamo Bowl on Thursday.
• Academy Award winner Tommy Lee Jones, who owns a home in San Antonio, sat courtside with Spurs owner Peter Holt.
• The Spurs remain without G Gary Neal after the second-year backup had his appendix removed during training camp.

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Now that a deal has been made to end the NBA lockout, the San Antonio Spurs have some issues to work out before heading out on the court. A year ago, the Spurs walked away with 61 wins by simply switching things up a little but where does that leave them now? With two of their players, Tim Duncan(notes) and Manu Ginobili(notes) now in their 30s, the question has come up as to whether or not they are too old to play.

Manu Ginobili, San Antonio Spurs
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Tim Duncan has had a successful career throughout the years but last season he didn’t appear to be on top of things and he seemed to have slowed down a bit. Fans still support Duncan and hope to see a slimmer, more dominate player this season but will it happen? At this time, many fans don’t feel like it’s possible. Age does seem to be catching up with him. I think he’s still good for a couple more seasons, regardless of what critics say.

Manu Ginobili scored 17.4 points last season, which is the second highest score of his career but he also suffered injuries during the playoffs. This could be viewed as a sign of aging and fans have to wonder if these injuries are going to be a factor in the way he plays this season. A shortened season might be just what Ginobili needed this year and I expect to see success with him if he can prevent injury once games pick back up again at Christmas.

However, age is not the only thing to take into consideration this year. Due to the lockout, this is going to be a shorted season, which means there will be many back-to-back games. The schedule will be very compressed and physically exhausting for all players, much less the ones who have a lot of years behind them. It’s going to be tough to keep up with the demanding schedule ahead for the NBA but I think the Spurs are set to do it.

Even with all the obstacles they face, the Spurs have a bright season ahead of them. No one knows at this time how these two veteran players will do this season until they get out on the court. The last time the NBA had a shortened season, the Spurs were the ones who walked away with a title. Can they do it again this year? Will Duncan and Ginobili prove they’re not too old to play?

Lisa is a youth basketball coach, resident of Texas and long-time fan of the San Antonio Spurs and Silver Stars.

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A number of players are heading overseas to play professional basketball during the NBA lockout, and Manu Ginobili may soon be counted among their ranks. However, if the Argentinian star does make the trek overseas, it’s not going to be just anywhere. According to an article at Basquet Plus, Ginobili would only consider playing for one team other than the San Antonio Spurs this season, and that’s his former team Virtus Bologna, who has made him an offer. 

Virtus was the last team that Ginobili played for before he moved to the NBA. In his time there, Ginobili won the Italian Lega Basket Serie A, the Euroleague, the Italian Cup, an two Italian League MVP awards and a Euroleague MVP award. Said Ginobili, regarding an offer from the club:

“Todavía no rechacé la propuesta del Bolonia. Allí me sentí muy cómodo durante el tiempo que jugué. Además, a mi esposa Marianela le encanta Italia.”

Roughly translated, Ginobili said that he has not yet rejected the proposal he received from Virtus, that he enjoyed his time there, and that his wife loves Italy. Ginobili also said in the interview that he has rejected a proposal to play for Flamengo in Brazil.

Virtus has one former NBA player on their roser, Chris Douglas-Roberts. The team is also rumored to be perusing Kobe Bryant. They are not currently involved in either Euroleague or Eurocup competition.

There is the quick update of the day.

San Antonio Spurs swingman Manu Ginobili(notes) tells DiaroShow.com that he has his eyes on only one club during the NBA lockout, according to Sportando: Italy’s Virtus Bologna, where he played from 2000 to 2002 before joining the Spurs.

Bologna has a contract proposal to him that the two-time All-Star must agree to or turn down by month’s end, Sportando notes. “I did not say no to the proposal,” Ginobili said in the interview. “In Bologna, I had great time and my wife Marianela loves Italy. There is a possibility that I will join Virtus Bologna during the NBA lockout.”

Ginobili, a native of Argentina, also said that he had an offer from Brazil, but would only consider joining Bologna if the lockout goes on.

The 34-year-old averaged 17.4 points, 3.7 rebounds and 4.9 assists last season for the Spurs.

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Source: DiarioShow.comSportando

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