With 23 games remaining, the NBA stretch run is fully underway and the San Antonio Spurs will be looking to close out the regular season on a high note.

To discuss the Spurs and their stretch run, I recently spoke with San Antonio's News 4 WOAI Sports Reporter Humberto "Humbie" Cervera. In this Q&A he speaks on what he expects from the Spurs in their final games, the Dallas Mavericks, his thoughts on Mavericks' Jason Terry, and more. 

Jeff: What are you expecting from the Spurs in the stretch run?

Humbie: I'm expecting a lot of the same. They've found the formula to win games in the regular season. They're a very good team, but what we're all waiting for is if they can play defense to be the BEST team. If they can't they'll just be the Phoenix Suns of yesteryear.

Many point to the Lakers, Celtics, Spurs as the teams to beat but would you say the Dallas Mavericks should be mentioned in that list?

They'll always be one of those teams so long as Dirk (Nowitzki) is there. They've been through too many playoff battles to EVER say the Spurs will just roll right through them.

Speaking of the Mavericks, recently Jason Terry said Dallas can catch the San Antonio whether it be in the regular season or the playoffs. He went a bit further and said he would prefer it to be in the playoffs. Any "kind" words for Mr. Terry?

He's one of my least favorite players in the league first off. Dallas CAN catch them. I could also win the lottery in the near future. Just because something CAN happen doesn't mean it actually will. That's the difference between the Spurs and the Mavs. The Mavs are worried about beating the Spurs and the Spurs are worried about their next championship.

With the regular season nearing the end, what has been your biggest surprise and disappointment from the Spurs?

I still think Gary Neal is the biggest surprise, even more so than the 3 pt accuracy from RJ. The biggest disappointment still has to be the play of Tiago. Spurs brass tried to warn us he wouldn't be spectacular, but we all got our hopes up anyways.

If you can point to one thing right now, what would it be for the Spurs to focus on with their remaining games?

Defense. That's the biggest thing they're all talking about right now. We've had the privilege to see 4 championships come through here and we all know it wasn't because of their great offensive prowess that they pulled that off. If the spurs defense isn't right they could find a wrong matchup and lose as early as the 1st round.

The San Antonio Spurs have lost starting point guard Tony Parker for two to four weeks due to strained left soleus in his calf muscle he suffered against the Memphis Grizzlies this past Sunday.

Manu Ginobli spoke on the loss of Parker and he says the whole dynamic of the team changes and will be looking to push the tempo more.
 

(video woai.com)

According to Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports, Corey Brewer is expected to speak with San Antonio Spurs head coach Gregg Popovich today.

Brewer will also be speaking with the Boston Celtics, and the Dallas Mavericks.

The fan response here at Project Spurs has been positive to the possible addition of Brewer to the Spurs.

Leave your comments and stay tuned!

SAN ANTONIO SPURS (49-10) vs. MEMPHIS GRIZZLIES (33-28)

The San Antonio Spurs tied a franchise record 21 straight home wins by defeating the Memphis Grizzlies 95-88 last Sunday. Both teams will face again tonight at the FedEx Forum as the Spurs (49-10) tries to equal their win total from last season and extend their current winning streak to four games.

The Grizzlies (33-28) will definitely be a tougher team playing on their home floor where they are 20-8 this season.

Tony Parker will be out for this game because of a calf injury he suffered on Sunday. That means George Hill will likely be the Spurs' starting point guard until Parker returns and Manu Ginobili might play extra minutes with the backcourt being short-handed.

The Grizzlies are still in 8th place in the Western Conference just half a game over the Phoenix Suns.

Hit the jump for the keys of the game and find out which team will win this matchup.

• Does the injury to San Antonio Spurs guard Tony Parker lead to the possibility of the Dallas Mavericks catching the Spurs for the best record in the NBA?

Does it crack open the door for the Dallas Mavericks (43-16), who despite winning six in a row and 15 of 16 remain six games behind San Antonio (49-10), to make a run at the No. 1 seed in the Western Conference?

Dallas has 23 games left starting Tuesday night at the vastly improved Philadelphia 76ers, who have moved above .500 at 30-29 and have won four in a row. (espn.com)

• Spurs' coach Gregg Popovich and Manu Ginobili talk about the scoring drought in last night's win against the Memphis Grizzlies:

• With all the talk about small markets thriving against larger markets such as New York, in any new CBA, the Spurs are seen as the exception:

Now, there are exceptions to the rule in the NBA. The San Antonio Spurs play in a smaller market and currently have the league's best record. That's because they've drafted brilliantly -- not just Tim Duncan as the no-brainer No. 1 choice, but Tony Parker (28th pick, one pick after Jamaal Tinsley), Manu Ginobili (57th pick), DeJuan Blair (37th) and George Hill (26th). Brilliant management and talent evaluation can overcome a middling (13th) payroll. (indystar.com)

• Spurs' Tim Duncan and David Robinson weighed in on the small versus big market cities in the NBA:

“I always thought it was special to be in one place and you could put together a team, especially in a small market like San Antonio’s,” said Hall of Fame center David Robinson, who won two championships and spent his entire 14-season career with the San Antonio Spurs. “But it’s real tough because the small-market teams don’t have the money to do what a New York can do and the Lakers can do. It’s going to be hard for a lot of small-market teams.”

“The big teams getting the best players might be what [people] want to see. It might be the biggest draw,” conceded Spurs forward Tim Duncan . “But obviously, if the league wants to stay competitive all-around, that makes room for much better games on a nightly basis.” (sports.yahoo.com)

Hit the jump to read about how to score some free Spurs tickets, a Spurs caption contest, more from the Spurs win over the Grizzlies and more.

According to ESPN.com, the San Antonio Spurs are rumored to be interested in soon-to-be free agent, 6'9" swing-man Corey Brewer:

Sources say Boston, San Antonio, Oklahoma City and Dallas are among the teams with the most interest in Brewer, who joined the Knicks only last week as part of the Carmelo Anthony deal.

Brewer is a young, a solid defender and defense is what is stressed in San Antonio. For his career, he has averaged 9.1 points, 1.3 steals, 3.3 rebounds and is 40% field goal shooter.

However, this still doesn't address the Spurs need for size. Right now the Spurs start DeJuan Blair who is 6'8" and is the smallest starting center in the NBA.

What do you have to say Spurs fans? Like this possible addition or would you rather wait for an available big-man?

On this episode of the Spurscast, Jeff and I reviewed a very light week for the San Antonio Spurs, which included home games against the Oklahoma City Thunder and New Jersey Nets. We recapped the games and discussed some positives and negatives. Among the positives was Gary Neal's hot streak lately, and among the negatives, aside from the injuries, was Richard Jefferson's recent slump.

In the scond half of the show, our topic of the week centered around the trade deadline and the Spurs standing pat with the roster they had and not making any moves whatsoever. Jeff and I debated and discussed whether or not this was a good idea considering some of the teams in the West improving, and the Thunder particularly, looking to be primed to make a deep playoff run with their latest acquisitions.

Make sure to leave us your thoughts and comments on the topic so we can read them next week.

The Spurscast. The original Spurs podcast.

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It appears the San Antonio Spurs will be without the services of their starting point guard for the next few weeks.

Tony Parker was diagnosed with a strained left soleus after undergoing an MRI earlier today and is expected to be out of the lineup for two to four weeks.

He will not be joining the Spurs on their road games in Memphis and Cleveland.

The soleus is one of the muscles in the calf, which Parker strained in last night's game against the Memphis Grizzlies.

With Parker out, George Hill will likely be inserted into the starting lineup. Manu Ginobili might see some extra time at the point and Chris Quinn could see an increase in minutes.

I also wouldn't be too surprised if the Spurs signed a player to a 10-day contract as extra insurance.

Curtis Stinson of the Iowa Energy is considered one of the best point guards in the D-League and could be a candidate for a call-up along with former Spurs guard Antonio Daniels, who plays for the Texas Legends. 

With the flurry of trades made in the NBA last week, and in particular in the Western Conference, how does it affect the San Antonio Spurs who pretty much stood pat?

Our good friend Jon Lee of Accuscore sent us this breakdown of the Western Conference teams win-loss projections and playoff probabilities after the trade deadline and as you can see, not much has changed.

The Oklahoma City Thunder made a great trade to acquire Kendrick Perkins from the Boston Celtics and former Spur Nazr Mohammed from the Charlotte Bobcats to shore up their middle.

Here is what Accuscore had to say about the Thunder's moves and how it affects the Spurs:

Oklahoma City only improved its per game winning percentage slightly at 1.3 percent, but the full benefit of picking up two centers in Perkins and Mohammed will be more evident in the playoffs agaisnt teams like the Spurs, Lakers and Mavericks.  The Thunder have long coveted a defensive center, and now have the size to deal with the Lakers and Spurs in the West.

What about the trade the Memphis Grizzlies, who might face the Spurs in the opening round of the playoffs, made to acquire Shane Battier?

Shane Battier is not projected for big numbers with Memphis, but the Grizzlies did improve their playoff chances the most at +8.8 percent.

Manu Ginobili scored a season-high 35 points to lead the San Antonio Spurs (49-10) to a 95-88 victory over the Memphis Grizzlies (33-28) that extended the team’s franchise-record to 21 consecutive home wins.

Tony Parker sustained a left thigh contusion when he collided with Memphis guard Mike Conley with 3:25 left in the second quarter. Parker didn't return in the second half, and will be examined on Monday. His status is day-to-day.

It's now time to checkout the numbers that stood out in this Spurs' win.

89.5 - The Grizzlies shot well from the foul line, making 17-of-19 (89.5%) of their free throw attempts. However, the Spurs had a huge advantage on free throw attempts and did a decent job at it, making 26-of-33 (78.8%) shots from the foul line. 

48 - Memphis dominated the inside battle, outscoring the Spurs 48-26 on inside points.

46.2 - The Spurs shot fairly well, connecting on 30-of-65 (46.2%) attempts from the floor while holding the Grizzlies to just 33-of-88 (37.5%) shooting from the field.

45.5 - The Grizzlies made their shots from beyond the arc, hitting 5-of-11 (45.5%) from the three point line. The Spurs weren't that bad, connecting on 9-of-21 (42.9%) attempts from behind the arc. 

41 - Memphis edged the Spurs in the rebounding department 41-40.