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

SAN ANTONIO (AP) — Antonio McDyess was waived by the San Antonio Spurs on Monday, clearing a path to retirement for the 17-year NBA veteran.

McDyess indicated at the end of last season that his playing days were over, but the Spurs didn’t rule out his return after the lockout ended. The move clears $2.6 million from the team payroll.

The 37-year-old spent the last two seasons in San Antonio. He was drafted second overall by Denver in 1995 and also played in Phoenix, Detroit and New York.

McDyess averaged 12 points and 7.5 rebounds in his career. He was an All-Star in 2001 and played on the 2000 Olympic team.

(© Copyright 2011 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)

By Charlie Wilmoth

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Jul 14, 2011 – Adrian Wojnarowski reports that Toronto Raptors president and GM Bryan Colangelo has found three candidates to be the team’s new GM. Those candidates are ex-New Orleans Hornets GM Jeff Bower, Philadelphia 76ers GM Ed Stefanski, and San Antonio Spurs assistant GM Dennis Lindsey.

Colangelo may or may not step down as general manager (but maintain his position as president), depending on whether he can find a replacement GM he likes. 

If the Raptors do hire a new GM, it’s unclear exactly what his relationship with Colangelo would be. Colangelo would retain veto power on basketball moves, and might continue to participate in basketball-related decisions.

Colangelo had a good run with the Phoenix Suns and a nice start to his career in Toronto, leading to NBA Executive Of The Year awards in 2005 and 2007. But the Raptors have fallen on hard times in the past few years, finishing below .500 in each season since 2008-09 (and losing Chris Bosh in 2010). The Raptors won just 22 games in 2010-11.

For more on the Toronto Raptors, check out Raptors HQ.

Read More: Chris Bosh (F – MIA), Jeff Bower (H – NOH), New Orleans Hornets, Phoenix Suns, San Antonio Spurs, Philadelphia 76ers, Toronto Raptors

SAN ANTONIO – The San Antonio Spurs are confirming to News 4 WOAI Monday that Manu Ginobili played with a fractured elbow in the playoff series against the Memphis Grizzlies.
 
On April 13th in the final game of the regular season against the Phoenix Suns Ginobli injured his right elbow. The Spurs initially announced that it was a hyperextension, and then later announced that it was a sprain.

Spurs fans still believed that Ginobili was a fighter for playing with a sprained elbow, but what they did not know was just how much Ginobli was fighting.

Ginobli recently told the Argentine website Noticiasmdq.com that he fractured his humerus bone. But the Spurs told News 4 WOAI on Monday that Manu actually franctured his right ulna, which is the bone running from the elbow to the pinky.

Ginobli played 5 of the 6 playoff games against the Grizzlies with a fractured arm, and still lead the team with an average of 20.6 points per game.

“Last Wednesday I had an MRI with the San Antonio medical staff. The swelling has gone down and the small fracture is about 85 percent healed. I have to rest for about three weeks and then begin slowly,” Ginobili Tweeted.

Ginobli chose to downplay his injury, while Boston’s Rajon Rondo was receiving a lot of national media credit for his ability to play through a hyperextended elbow.

We’ll put this right up there with the broken nose, killing the bat and the rest of the stories when we write the book about the legend of Manu Ginobili.