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Spurs G Ginobili out with broken hand

RomDiemiReero — Tue, 03 Jan 2012 09:49:05 +0000

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 Spurs Assign Gary Neal to NBA D-League…

bhAnthony — Tue, 03 Jan 2012 01:18:50 +0000

January 2, 2012 – NBA Development League (D-League)
NEW YORK, Jan. 2, 2012 – The San Antonio Spurs assigned guard Gary Neal to the Austin Toros, the Spurs’ NBA D-League affiliate, it was announced today. The assignments mark the tenth time in the 2011-12 season an NBA player has been assigned to an NBA D-League affiliate. It marks the first assignment for Neal.

Neal (6-4, 210) is in his second season with the Spurs and was named to the 2010-11 NBA All-Rookie First Team. Undrafted out of Towson, Neal appeared in 80 games last season averaging 9.8 points while shooting .451 from the field, .419 from three-point range, and .808 from the free throw line. He has not played this season for the Spurs after undergoing a successful appendectomy last month.

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• San Antonio Spurs Assign Gary Neal to NBA D-League Affiliate Austin Toros – D-League

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The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

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Spurs-Timberwolves Preview

gokskitaalimi — Mon, 02 Jan 2012 10:01:33 +0000

Tim Duncan said he isn’t going to stop shooting despite his struggles from
the floor. A busy week will provide him with a lot of opportunities to get
things going.

Duncan and the San Antonio Spurs look to win their 17th straight over the
Minnesota Timberwolves on Monday night.

While San Antonio will play two sets of back-to-back games later this week,
the Spurs (3-1) have a chance to begin the stretch on a favorable note against
Minnesota. They have won 16 in a row over the Timberwolves since a 103-101
overtime loss Jan. 3, 2007, on the road.

San Antonio is coming off a 104-89 victory over Utah on Saturday, going 10
of 16 from 3-point range while holding the Jazz to 37.1 percent shooting.

Manu Ginobili scored 23 points, DeJuan Blair had 17 and 10 rebounds and Tony
Parker added 14 points and eight assists.

The performance seemed to lend credence to coach Gregg Popovich’s approach
in a 105-85 loss to Houston on Thursday. Popovich, who recorded his 800th career
victory against the Jazz, pulled his veterans early and said he’s willing to do
that again in order to keep his veterans fresh during the compact schedule.

Though the Spurs starters looked rested against Utah, Duncan’s shooting
struggles continued.

After playing less than 16 minutes against the Rockets, Duncan finished with
12 points on 4-of-13 shooting Saturday, although he seemed to get things going
late. He was 1 of 7 from the field in the first half.

“Getting just about every shot I want, just can’t put them in the hole,” he
said. “But I’m going to stick with it and hopefully down the stretch or the next
couple of games I can get it going.”

While San Antonio swept the four-game series against Minnesota last season,
one went into overtime and two others were decided by a combined nine points.
The Spurs could be in for another tough one against the Timberwolves (1-3) on
Monday.

Kevin Love finished with 25 points and 17 boards in a 99-82 win over Dallas
on Sunday for Minnesota’s first win.

Although the Timberwolves had lost 18 straight dating back to last season,
their first three losses in 2011-12 were by a combined nine points.

“It’s a new year,” said Love, who hit 5 of 6 from 3-point range. “We’re the
best team in 2012 right now. We feel good. We’ve got the monkey off our back.”

Love was a big factor in keeping Minnesota’s games against San Antonio close
last season, averaging 23.8 points and 19.3 rebounds.

Besides defending Love, San Antonio will have to keep its eye on rookie
Ricky Rubio, particularly late in games.

Rubio, the fifth overall pick in the 2009 draft, scored a season-high 14
points and had seven assists against Dallas on Sunday. He scored seven points in
the fourth quarter, playing all 12 minutes.

Twenty-one of his 38 points have come in the final quarter, when Rubio has
gone 7 for 10 with 14 assists.

“I worked a lot this summer on shooting jump shots and all the stuff. When
you work hard, things (are) coming,” he said.

The Timberwolves could be without Michael Beasley after he injured his index
finger.

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Ginobili leads Spurs over Jazz

YangWinstead — Sun, 01 Jan 2012 10:56:42 +0000

Written by

The Sports Network

SAN ANTONIO, Dec. 31 (UPI) — Manu Ginobili sank five 3-pointers and DeJuan Blair provided a double-double Saturday in the San Antonio Spurs’ 104-89 win over Utah.

Ginobili finished with 23 points, while Blair added 17 and 10 rebounds for the Spurs, who logged their third win in four games to start the season.

Tony Parker contributed 14 points and eight assists.

The Spurs got 12 points and nine rebounds from Tim Duncan in the victory.

The Jazz were led by Al Jefferson’s 21 points and 11 rebounds.

Josh Howard added a spark off the bench with 18 points and seven boards, but it wasn’t enough for Utah.

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Hometownstations.com-WLIO- Lima, OH News Weather…

Menvefakexerryg — Sun, 01 Jan 2012 09:51:59 +0000

SAN ANTONIO (AP) – Manu Ginobili scored 23 points, 14 in the second quarter, to lead the San Antonio Spurs to a 104-89 victory over the Utah Jazz on Saturday night.

Ginobili was 9 of 10 from the field, including 5 of 6 from 3-point range.

The win gave Spurs coach Gregg Popovich his 800th career coaching victory. He is the 14th coach to reach that milestone and third among active coaches behind George Karl (1038) and Rick Adelman (945).

DeJuan Blair had 17 points and 10 rebounds. Tony Parker added 14 points, and Tim Duncan 12 as San Antonio moved to 3-1.

Duncan continued to struggle to find his form. The 36-year-old forward followed up his 1-of-8 performance in Houston by going 4 of 13 from the field. He had nine rebounds.

Ginobili injected life to an offense that had gone cold in Thursday’s 105-85 loss to the Houston Rockets. He began the Spurs’ quick turnaround in the second period, scoring the first 11 points of the quarter. That propelled San Antonio on a 22-10 run that ended with Richard Jefferson hitting a 3-pointer with 5:26 left and gave the Spurs 17-point lead.

The Spurs were 7 of 8 from the 3-point line during the second period and were 10 and 16 for the game ( 63 percent).

Al Jefferson returned to the starting lineup for Utah, scoring 21 points with 11 rebounds in 35 minutes. Jefferson sat out Utah’s 102-99 win over Philadelphia on Friday night with an inflamed right ankle.

But Utah shot just 35 percent (18 of 51) from the field and had only 11 assists.

San Antonio never trailed and built its largest lead at 27 points on Blair’s basket with 9:52 left that made it 89-62.

Josh Howard, who flirted with signing with San Antonio earlier in the month before committing to the Jazz, had 18 points.

Forward Derrick Favors, who had a career-high 20 points in his first career start Friday, only had seven points.

Notes: Ginobili and Blair are the only Spurs to score 20 or more points in a game this season. … Utah is 2-14 since the AT&T Center opened in 2002-2003 season.

Leave your comments on the news below.

Utah Jazz blown out by San Antonio Spurs, 104-89

a.apmu — Sun, 01 Jan 2012 09:03:59 +0000

Published: Saturday, Dec. 31, 2011 11:33 p.m. MST

SAN ANTONIO — A fan sitting behind press row at the AT&T Center shared a loud mouthful of free advice with the Utah Jazz on Saturday night.

“Put in Hornacek!”

That option, of course, hasn’t been available for years. Now an assistant coach, Jeff Hornacek has different game-time responsibilities these days anyway.

But even without good knees and with his suit and dressy loafers on, the former Jazz sharpshooter’s touch would’ve come in handy in this 104-89 blowout loss to San Antonio.

Of course, it would’ve been even more helpful for the Jazz if “Take out Ginobili!” had been shouted out and then adhered to by Spurs coach Gregg Popovich.

Manu Ginobili hit a sizzling 9-for-10 from the field, sank 5 of 6 3-pointers and finished with 23 points.

“He is who he is in this league,” Jazz coach Tyrone Corbin said. “He’s an All-Star. He can score. You want to make him work hard for everything.”

Oops.

The Argentine Assassin single-handedly turned this into a rout in the second quarter when he scored eight straight against a Jazz bench that got lost on rotations, allowing for back-to-back wide-open treys for Ginobili.

The Manu moment continued as he dropped 14 points and the Jazz dropped their heads in the period, giving the Spurs a double-digit lead they never came close to relinquishing.

“We lost a little bit of our zest. I thought our energy level was pretty good up until that point,” Corbin said. “They made a run and we just didn’t respond to it.”

As a result, the Jazz, still trying to find who they are between their youth and veterans, were clobbered on someone else’s court for the third time in five nights.

Any momentum picked up in Friday’s exciting 102-99 home win over Philadelphia fell out of the charter somewhere between the Wasatch Front and the Alamo. It’s looking like inconsistency could be the major theme of the season.

“It’s going to be an up and down for a while,” Corbin said, “until we get more familiar with each other.”

At least the 3-1 Spurs’ fans didn’t get free tacos like the Lakers’ crowd did when L.A. held Utah to 71 points and like Nuggets’ supporters did when Denver scored 117 in those one-sided contests.

“It’s only our fourth game. We do not need to panic,” Jazz center Al Jefferson said. “We have all the pieces we need. We have a good bench, and we have a lot of new guys, so on offense they are not quite clicking yet.”

Against Utah’s defense, the Spurs sure clicked.

Besides Ginobili happening, DeJuan Blair added 17 points with 10 rebounds, while Tony Parker (14 points, eight assists) and Tim Duncan (12 points, nine rebounds) reminded the young Jazz that the old guard still rules in these parts.

On the other (cold) hand, there was Utah.

If anybody needs tickets to games, remember to click the tickets link at the top.

Spurs win 17th straight at home against Clippers

drishiott — Thu, 29 Dec 2011 12:52:21 +0000

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.

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Forget the Alamo: Clippers routed by San Antonio

equakesuent — Thu, 29 Dec 2011 12:20:20 +0000

SAN ANTONIO – The 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.

The Spurs made 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 the Clippers 38-17 in the third quarter to take control.

San Antonio outscored the Clippers 57-36 in the second half.

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.”

“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 (today) 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.

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 score 52-all on Griffin’s dunk with 47 seconds left in the half.

“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.”

Also …

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.

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

Clippers have no defense for Spurs, 115-90

ToucheStutt — Thu, 29 Dec 2011 11:22:34 +0000

Reporting from San Antonio — They are the new-look Clippers, a team with savvy veterans, All-Stars and with high hopes for the season.

But these Clippers will tell anyone that will listen that this is a process that will take time before they can become whole.

In the process of that happening, these Clippers got treated like all the other Clippers teams before them, taking a beating from the San Antonio Spurs, 115-90, Wednesday night at the AT&T Center.

The 2011-12 Clippers were put through the same torture chamber the Clippers before them have experienced, extending the losing streak in San Antonio to 17 games. The last victory came here on Jan. 31, 2002.

The Spurs own a 64-8 margin over the Clippers here and have won 19 of the last 20 games overall.

“This is the start of a process for us,” Clippers Coach Vinny Del Negro said. “We’ve got to find a way to get better every day. I keep on talking about that. It’s not going to be easy.”

One place the Clippers have to start the process is on defense.

They trailed by as much as 27 points.

They allowed the Spurs to make 56.3% of their shots, 52.6% (10 for 19) on three-pointers.

“We haven’t been together for how many days? We’re not making any excuses,” said Chris Paul, one of the new Clippers. “So, yeah, it [defense] can be an issue that can be resolved. That’s what we’ve got to do.”

They seemingly couldn’t stop any of the Spurs.

Manu Ginobili had 24 points on six-for-10 shooting, five for eight on three-pointers.

DeJuan Blair had 20 points on 10-for-15 shooting and Richard had Jefferson 19 points on eight-for-nine shooting, three for four on three-pointers.

Tony Parker had 10 of his 14 points in the decisive third quarter, when the Spurs outscored the Clippers, 38-17.

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

Unlike the Clippers, the Spurs have been together for a while, something that Chauncey Billups says benefits San Antonio during the 66-game season.

Tim Duncan (35), Ginobili (34) and Parker (29) have won three NBA championships together.

“I just think in a season like this, where it was a short camp, a team like that is going to prosper,” Billups, also one of the new Clippers, said after scoring 11 points. “They’ve got all their guys back that have played together. But at the same time, we’re down four at the half and to get beat by 25, that’s not pretty.”

The Clippers trailed by 15 in the second quarter, but pulled to within four at halftime.

They went down by 25 in the third and never recovered.

Their defense was the worst of the game at that point. The Clippers saw the Spurs do as they pleased in shooting 76.2% from the field in the third quarter.

“They are not going to beat themselves. You’ve got to beat them,” said Paul, who finished with 10 points and nine assists. “We’ve got to defend.”

Blake Griffin led the Clippers with 28 points and nine rebounds.

It mattered little because the Clippers were so porous on defense.

Six Spurs scored in double figures, and they showed the Clippers how defense is played, limiting them to 39.2% shooting.

“We’re not there yet,” Paul said. “When you get to that point in the season where we just stop teams, that’s when you’re ready.”

broderick.turner@latimes.com

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Veteran Spurs rout Clippers

Wrotofrobia — Thu, 29 Dec 2011 10:59:12 +0000

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.

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 percent from the field.

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

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 honors 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 halftime, 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. The Spurs were due back in action on Thursday night at Houston.

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

That’s all the news for today.

NBA: Veteran Spurs rout Clippers

adarryicrof — Thu, 29 Dec 2011 10:52:01 +0000

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 Wednesday.