Spurs vs. Mavericks
San Antonio vs. Dallas
With two key players out, two of the Texas NBA teams have has to fill large holes. For San Antonio has been missing Manu Ginobili's presence of the bench. His achievements were so impressive a season ago that he won the NBA's Sixth Man of the Year. While not receiving an award for his efforts of the bench, Jason Terry is still missed by his team, Dallas. Each player will be missing another two weeks or so and will miss out when their teams face each other Tuesday in San Antonio.
Ginobili had missed the first 12 games of the season after surgery on his left ankle. Now his right ankle is bothering him. Terry, who leads the league with 20 points off of the pine is recovering from surgery on his left hand.
Grab a date and prepare for the dance, San Antonio because the Spurs are having their homecoming. As February is in its final week, the Spurs (37-17) will play at the AT&T Center for the first time in the month.
With nearly 11,000 miles of travel over 19 days, the Spurs had been evicted from their home while the rodeo dazzled the locals. They went a respectable 5-3 on the grueling trip and still lead the Southwest Division. The last time the Spurs played at home was January 31st, a 106-93 victory over New Orleans.
They capped the extensive road trip with a 98-67 destruction of Washington. Former Wizard Roger Mason led the team with 25 points and hit 5-of-9 from beyond the arc. Mason needed to step up as Tim Duncan was held to a dozen points and Tony Parker netted 9. San Antonio is 8-8 in games without Ginobili.
In their last game, Dallas (33-22) had an easy time of it, thrashing Sacramento 116-95. The Mavericks were able to rest their starters and rely more heavily on the bench on the basis of their 70-50 halftime advantage. That gave some reserves and role players more time to shine. Brandon Bass recorded his season high of 20 points while James Singleton set his high with 19 points and also grabbed 12 rebounds. The Mavericks won their third game in five games that Terry has been absent.
Dallas has dropped four out of their last five against San Antonio. The teams have split their two prior contests this season with each team winning on the road. The Spurs won their most recent matchup in overtime on December 9th, 133-126.
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