Manu Ginobili scored 26 points to help the San Antonio Spurs (48-10) beat the New Jersey Nets (17-41) 106-96 in Deron Williams' debut in Nets uniform at the AT&T Center.

The game was close at half time but the Spurs pulled away in second half behind a strong third quarter effort.

What are the numbers that stood out in this Spurs' latest victory? Let's find out!

84.6 - The Spurs made their free throws, hitting 22-of-26 (84.6%) shots from the foul line. The Nets weren't that bad either, making 17-of-21 (81.0%) of their free throw attempts.

50 - San Antonio dominated the inside battle, outscoring the Nets 50-30 on inside points.

46.3 - The Spurs shot fairly well, connecting on 38-of-82 (46.3%) attempts from the floor while holding the Nets to 37-of-85 (43.5%) from the field.

42 - San Antonio made their shots from beyond the arc, hitting 8-of-19 (42.1%) from the three point line. The Nets on the other hand made only 5-of-21 (23.8%) attempts from behind the arc. The Spurs also out-rebounded the Nets 42-37.

35 - The Spurs outscored the Nets 35-18 in the third quarter to build a 14 point lead entering the final period.

27 - The Nets shared the ball better, dishing out 27 assists compared to the Spurs' 22. However, the Spurs edged the Nets on fast break points 27-25.

26 - Manu Ginobili had a game-high 26 points and added six rebounds, five assists, three steals and one block for the Spurs.

• By now all San Antonio Spurs fans have heard what Dallas Mavericks' Jason Terry has said about the Spurs but now Mavericks' Jason Kidd chimed in:

“We don’t mind that. When you look at the defending champs, the Lakers, and how San Antonio’s playing and then Boston and then you have Miami. You talk about those teams and when you do talk about those teams, we’ve beat those teams. We don’t have to be talked about til June and hopefully we’ll be the one team representing the Western Conference.” (sportsradiointerviews.com)

• The Spurs did not make any trades prior to the NBA trade deadline but what does Spurs' Manu Ginobili have to say about the team standing pat?

• Check out this video starring Spurs' Tim Duncan and legendary Boston Celtics coach Red Auerbach on Duncan's bank-shot:

• Express News' Tim Griffin spoke about there being no rest for the Spurs despite the lead in the Southwest Division.

Hit the jump to read about Spurs legend George Gervin in India, former Spur Steve Smith giving back to his alma mater, and more.

New Jersey Nets coach Avery Johnson spent the majority of his career in San Antonio as a member of the San Antonio Spurs. Nicknamed the "Little General," he won his first NBA title with the Spurs in 1999 and still remains a fan favorite in San Antonio.

With his number six jersey hanging in the rafters of the AT&T Center, it's no surprise he's glad to be back as the Spurs host the Nets.

"It feels good. It feels good to be in a situation where the weather is beautiful," Johnson said. "I've been kind of cold in the New York-New Jersey area. We've had a few blizzards so it felt good to go on my walk which I like to do on gamedays and start sweating, so it's good. It's good to be back in this building."

As for the team his Nets are playing tonight, the Spurs, there is no doubt in his mind that they are the best in the NBA.

"Right now they're the best team in the NBA. A team that plays the right way and it's also exciting with the trades that we made and the new additions to our team," said Johnson.

As Johnson mentioned, yesterday the Nets made a surprising trade deadline deal with the Utah Jazz which brought over All-Star point guard Deron Williams and for Johnson, he knows it's a positive step for the Nets.

"This is a step in the right direction for our team. I would hope that he plays 36 plus. I'm expecting him to play his normal minutes," said Johnson.

Johnson also talked about his former teammate Tim Duncan and his role being similar to Spurs legend David Robinson.

Johnson said, "Both he and David for a long period of time dominated their positions. Then they both got to a stage where they thought 'You know I can't just turn it on like I used to. Still in the top three or five in my position but I'm not the number one guy at my position anymore' and you need to pass the baton and allow other guys to help you."

"That's what Tim has done and he learned it from a great teacher. He's done it with such dignity and class and I think it's great on his part to know what stage of his career he's in and boy, he's had a hall of fame career and definitely the best power forward to ever play the game," Johnson said.

Note: If you are a regular Project Spurs reader, you'll know I had a chance to talk with Oklahoma City Thunder forward Kevin Durant recently. While not everything he talked about was San Antonio Spurs-related, I thought his answers were interesting enough to include in their entirety here.

Inside the Oklahoma City Thunder locker room, players are scattered about getting taped up for the game, watching San Antonio Spurs game video or just listening to music. There are a handful of media that have been standing in the same spot for about 20 minutes, waiting for one player.

As soon as they see his lanky 6-9 frame walk in and sit in front of his locker, the media scurries over to get in good position. White balance set, lights on and ready to roll tape for that night's newscast.

I decided to wait even longer, to let everyone get in their questions so I could speak to him one-on-one.

Durant recently played with a West All-Star squad that featured Carmelo Anthony and Deron Williams, two players who have since moved East in trades to the New York Knicks and New Jersey Nets. The Spurs will see Williams and the Nets tonight.

"It changes a lot. Those two are all-stars, you know, but in this league players step up," Durant said. "Guys step up. Players that haven't played that much are waiting for the opportunity and it opened up a little bit for those teams. I can't count Denver or Utah out. They're still going to be good teams and they're going to be tough to win against."

But with the Western conference losing two of it's best players, does this pave the way for his young Thunder team to experience even more postseason success.

"I hope so. We can't worry about too far down the line, we've got to continue to take it a game at a time," Durant said. "That's the easiest way for us because you never know what will happen these next couple of hours, next couple of days."

The next couple of days, the Thunder added Kendrick Perkins, Nate Robinson and Nazr Mohammed, a move that makes the Thunder a threat to every team in the West.

But don't expect Durant to get overconfident or expect an automatic bid to the second round.

"It's a short season from here on out so we just have to win as much as we can," the Texas alumnus said. "I think we're in the fourth spot so we control our destiny and we'll see what happens at the end of the season."

Durant was also very complimentary of the Spurs, a team he was trying to get his first win of the season against.

The San Antonio Spurs will be taking on Deron Williams and the New Jersey Nets tonight without two of their rookies.

Tiago Splitter, who is out with a strained left hamstring, and Gary Neal, who has mild concussive symptoms will not play tonight.

With Neal out, George Hill will get some added playing time and I wouldn't be too surprised to see James Anderson play at least 10 minutes, which will be a good test of his conditioning against NBA competition.

The game tips at 7:30 p.m. CST tonight. 

The San Antonio Spurs (47-10) will host the new look New Jersey Nets (17-40) at the AT&T Center tonight. The last time these two teams faced each other, the Spurs won 102-85 in New Jersey. In that game, Manu Ginobili paced the Spurs with 22 points.

For the Spurs, they will be looking to maintain their league-leading record and continue their dominance over the Nets in San Antonio as the Spurs have won eight straight over the Nets in San Antonio. The game will give the Spurs their first look at new Nets player Deron Williams who will be making his debut.

For the Nets, it's also their chance to see Williams in action and hope to get some revenge on the Spurs. It will also mark the return of former Spur, now Nets head coach, Avery Johnson to San Antonio.

To talk about tonight's contest, I turn to fellow Bloguin blogger Victor Nash of Whoop De Damn Do. A great place for all things Nets and not to mention a great site name. Also, click HERE to read the Q&A I did for Victor.

In this Q&A, Victor talks about the recent Nets trade for Williams, Avery Johnson, how the Nets can beat the Spurs and much more.  

Jeff: First of all I got to ask you about the recent trade to bring in Deron Williams from the Utah Jazz for Derrick Favors and Devin Harris. Your reaction.

Victor: As of right now, I'm ecstatic about the deal. The Nets, after much heartache over the pursuit of Carmelo Anthony, were rewarded with a better player for basically the same deal, sans two first round draft picks. Williams is an obvious upgrade over Devin Harris and his youth as well as current superstar-dom puts him over Derrick Favors' potential. The Nets have a serious shot at contending if they acquire another All-Star caliber player (David West, anybody?) and are in a better position than they were before by all accounts. The only thing that worries me about the trades are the reports that claim that D-Will is unhappy. Williams is only signed through this season and the next, which indicates that this deal was a huge gamble for NJ. If Williams is clearly not content about being on the wrong side of the Hudson, the Nets could be on the wrong end off something similar to the previous Melodrama. However, let's stop with the pessimism for now. The Nets acquired a superstar in what is known as a superstars' league and are taking their first steps out of the rebuilding dome.
 
How has former San Antonio Spurs player now Nets head coach Avery Johnson been for New Jersey? Likes? Dislikes?

The San Antonio Spurs are currently first in the NBA with a record of 47-10 and are playing like an elite team. The obvious reason for that is due in large part to a healthy "Big Three." However, another reason why the Spurs are playing their best basketball in years is their reserves.

This year, the Spurs have arguably the deepest bench in the league and has made a huge difference for the Spurs this season.

But with the stretch run underway, two young players could play vital roles in the Spurs' playoff success this season -- George Hill and rookie Gary Neal.

What about Gary Neal? 

• Did the Boston Celtics make their trades today to matchup with the San Antonio Spurs should they meet in the NBA Finals?

They'll never say so in so many words, but actions speak much louder. And today's actions said that when playoff time rolls around, Boston thinks it will need perimeter depth, floor spacing and the ability to play smaller a lot more than it'll need quality low-post defenders.

Translation: Miami is the threat here, not Orlando. And if the Celtics survive, it's San Antonio, not the Lakers, whom they now match up better against. (Project Spurs' Mike De Leon's espn.com Insider subscription)

• With Dallas Mavericks' Jason Terry having the Spurs on his mind, Mavericks' Tyson Chandler took the high road and said this about chasing the Spurs:

"I think rather than worry about chasing them, we’re focused on ourselves game by game,'' center Tyson Chandler said. "And then the last couple of games, see where we’re at.'' (sportsblogs.star-telegram.com)

• Chandler also had this to say about losing to the San Antonio Spurs in the playoffs when he was with the New Orleans Hornets:

"It's not the same as the opportunity to win. Sometimes you get your heart broken. It's just the fact you had the opportunity. I loved the Game 7 loss I had to San Antonio a few years back when I was with New Orleans. It was one of the special moments of my career. Just because I was there and felt what it was like. It mattered." (star-telegram.com)

• In last night's win against the Oklahoma City Thunder, Spurs' Tony Parker took a hard foul from Thunder's Nick Collison. Here is what he had to say about the physicality in last night's game:



• Speaking of the Parker-Collison incident, it is me or do you like seeing Antonio McDyess come in and defend Parker? Check out the video:



• Spurs' Gary Neal and head coach Gregg Popovich talk about Neal's shot selection against the Thunder:



Hit the jump to read how the Spurs win the right way, shift of power in the NBA, Tim Duncan shows off his football knowledge, Neal on the Rookie Ladder, and more.

The trade deadline has come and gone and while we saw Carmelo Anthony and Deron Williams head East, and the Oklahoma City Thunder get stronger with the acquisition of Kendrick Perkins, the San Antonio Spurs decided to keep their team intact, which is exactly what you would expect out of the team with the league-leading record.

Several teams in the West improved, like the aforementioned Thunder and the Blazers, who added Gerald Wallace.  But several teams' GMs didn't do their franchises any favors. Houston traded away Aaron Brooks and Shane Battier and got only Hasheem Thabeet and Goran Dragic in return. While the Rockets were not much of a contender or a division rival anyway, with today's trades, they aren't more than an afterthought in the West.

The Denver Nuggets and Utah Jazz, who traded away Anthony and Williams, are currently sixth and ninth in the West. With Williams in New Jersey, I don't see Utah moving into a playoff spot at all. The Nuggets did well for themselves in getting as much back as they did, considering they were practically held at gunpoint to trade Anthony. However, with so many new pieces, chemistry will be an issue and the Nuggets lack a true franchise player. I can see the Nuggets dropping a bit.

What does this mean to the Spurs? Probably not much, considering they seem to be out of reach and will likely enter the playoffs with the number one seed. I can't see the playoffs getting too interesting out West until the second round.

As for player movement, the Spurs will be watching closely to see which players agree to buyouts with their teams. Joel Przybilla and Troy Murphy are among the names mentioned, and if the Spurs think a player can help them, they'll likely look at a few options. They can also still pick up players off of the waiver wire and call up D-League players, but I doubt that anyone of much significance that will play a major role for the Spurs will be putting on the silver and black any time soon.

Just the other day Dallas Mavericks' Jason Terry said the Mavericks can catch the league-leading San Antonio Spurs. He even went as far to say he wants see the Spurs in the playoffs.

Well here we go again.

Terry amped up the Spurs-Mavericks rivalry today saying he wants the Spurs in the Western Conference Finals only to beat San Antonio and move on to the NBA Finals:

"For me, it wasn't necessarily catching them now. We'd much rather catch them in the Western Conference finals and then go onto the championship. Like I said, we're going to catch them sooner or later. It's definitely got to come to that. How we finished last year, us and them, they knocked us out. The year before we knocked them out, so this is it. This is like Thrilla in Manila Part III. The Trilogy, so to speak."  (espn.com)

You know I'm sure Spurs fans across the globe want to put a muzzle on Terry but for as much as Spurs fans can fire back by saying the Spurs have four NBA titles while the Mavericks have none, Terry himself summed it up best:

"But, they got the rings, we don't. We're still little brother to them, so it's definitely a rivalry. We're watching their score and I know they're watching ours." 

That's right Terry. San Antonio does have the rings and Dallas doesn't. Also, I doubt the Spurs care about what Dallas is doing or even playoff positioning. Dallas had the better record last season and what happened in the playoffs when they matched up against the Spurs?  

Oh and one more thing Terry, when the Spurs have gone to the NBA Finals, they are 4-0 and don't choke like Dallas did against the Miami Heat. 

Isn't it great Spurs fans to know San Antonio is in the head of Terry and the Mavericks?