The San Antonio Spurs (57-16) may have lost the game last night to the Memphis Grizzlies, 111-104, but the bigger concern is the health of the team.

Already shelved due to injury is Tim Duncan, now add Manu Ginobili to the list.

Ginobili suffered a left quadriceps contusion in last night's loss to Memphis and though is not serious, Ginobili cannot put his full weight on his leg and is in considerable pain. His status for tonight's game against Portland is in question.

That's two All-Stars for the Spurs dealing with injuries. Add the fact the Spurs' grip on the number one seed is now at four games with the Los Angeles Lakers currently on a seven game winning streak.

The playoffs are right around the corner, and this is the last thing the Spurs needed to deal with.

What do you think Spurs fans?

• Desertnews.com released their NBA rankings Sunday morning, they ranked the Los Angeles Lakers higher than the Spurs due to the Spurs injury woes:

2. Spurs: Not the same team without Tim Duncan, which was obvious in last two losses.

• The Detroit News discusses the Spurs "swoon"; in particular, because of the Duncan injury:

It will be interesting to see if the Spurs can hang onto the best record in the NBA with Tim Duncan (left ankle) out.

Sure, he isn't the Duncan of old, but he's still a pretty good defender, rebounder and has a solid court presence.

• If you own a 3D television, you may be able to watch the NBA Finals in 3D; reports The Denver Post:

Two Nuggets games, most recently Wednesday's win against the Spurs, have been in 3-D, and ESPN 3-D will air the NBA Finals in June.

• Greg Jaklewicz writes a fascinating article about Spurs play-by-play announcer Bill Schoening:

They talked once, when Bill was maybe 17 and Springsteen in his mid-20s. Kid, the Boss asked him, what do you want to do in life?

Broadcast sports, Bill told him.

Well, do it, Springsteen advised. Whatever dues you have to pay, pay up. It's not about the money but doing something you love.

• Boston's number one Celtics blog RedsArmy.com, keeps an eye on the Spurs and other contenders.

Austin Toros (San Antonio Spurs' D-League affiliate) center Marcus Cousin recently spent some time with the NBA’s Utah Jazz.

He was brought into Utah on a 10-day contract but was not offered another 10-day contract and returned to Austin to play with the Toros.

I had the opportunity to speak with Cousin on Saturday afternoon after the Toros lost to the Idaho Stampede.

When I asked Cousin how his 10-days in Utah were, he chuckled about only being there for 10 days. Cousin then told me that he learned a lot from the coaching staff and Jazz players. He used the words “good experience” in describing his short stint.

When I asked him how it was to battle the likes of Al Jefferson and Paul Millsap, he said it was great to learn from them. He also said he learned a lot from Jefferson in particular.

Cousin continues to produce in the D-League as he scored 10 points and grabbed eight rebounds in the loss Saturday.

Cousin has two aspirations to look forward to these next two weeks: 1) Get signed to an NBA team for the remainder of the season and 2) continue to help the Toros team earn a spot in the D-League playoffs and contend for Austin’s first D-League championship.

Optimism is still an option for Cousin.

Follow Paul on Twitter: @24writer | Email Paul at:   This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

SAN ANTONIO SPURS (57-15) vs. MEMPHIS GRIZZLIES (40-33)

TEAM LEADERS
	Points	Rebounds	Assists
SPURS	Manu Ginobili 18.0	Tim Duncan 9.0	Tony Parker 6.6
GRIZZLIES	Zach Randolph 19.9	Zach Randolph 12.4	Mike Conley 6.6

The San Antonio Spurs seemed to be missing Tim Duncan's leadership on the floor. They were defeated in two close games without their team captain by losing composure down the stretch. 

The Spurs will try to avoid a season-high third straight loss tonight when they visit the Memphis Grizzlies in a potential first-round playoff preview.

San Antonio (57-15) still has a four game lead over the Chicago Bulls for the best record in the league, but they have to be concerned after wasting leads in the final quarter, losing back-to-back games for the second time this season.

The Spurs led 96-90 with 1:21 left the fourth period against the Portland Trail Blazers last Friday but lost 98-96, committing three of their 19 turnovers in the final 40 seconds.

Manu Ginobili had 21 points and seven assists but also had five turnovers in that game. Tony Parker had eight miscues. Tiago Splitter started in Duncan's place against Portland and had 11 points and seven rebounds.

Meanwhile, the Grizzlies (40-33) had their three-game winning streak snapped by a 99-96 loss at Chicago last Friday. Mike Conley missed a 3-pointer as time expired.

Memphis had held its previous three opponents to an average of 83.3 points.

Rudy Gay has undergone a season-ending surgery to repair his partially dislocated left shoulder. The Grizzlies are 9-7 without him.

The Grizzlies will play six of their next seven games at home and have a 1 and a half game lead over ninth-place Houston Rockets.

The last time the Spurs lost consecutive games was on January 4-5, but responded by winning their next eight. They haven't dropped three games in a row since January 20-25, 2010.

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

• Express News' Tim Griffin shares his notes from the San Antonio Spurs loss to the Portland Trail Blazers last night:

There are low points. And then, there are games like the Spurs lost on Friday night against old nemesis Portland. The Spurs saw a late 10-point lead melt away in a 98-96 defeat to the Trail Blazers that continues their recent misery at the Rose Garden. They have lost six straight games there.

• With the Spurs dealing with an injury to Tim Duncan, former Spurs player, now head coach of the New Jersey Nets, Avery Johnson is dealing with the loss of Quinton Ross and recalls how an injury could lead to a good player like Tim Duncan:

“It’s something you got to deal with,’’ Johnson said. “This is the most injured team I have both as a player and a coach. It’s the second time I’ve been in this situation. The last time I was here good things happened. Tim Duncan was waiting in the wings (to be drafted by the San Antonio Spurs). It may not be a Tim Duncan this year waiting in the wings, in terms of the draft, but something good could be on the other side for us. That’s what I keep my mind on.’’ (nj.com)

• The Elm talked about why Duncan stayed in a small market like San Antonio for his career:

There is a reason that Tim Duncan continues to play for the San Antonio Spurs. There is a reason that Dirk Nowitski continues to play for the Dallas Mavericks. There is a reason that Kevin Durant continues to play for the Oklahoma City Thunder. These franchises (which are in relatively small cities compared to New York and Los Angeles) have made a commitment to ensuring that their stars are surrounded by a quality role players that can help the team reach of championship-contending status.

• The Austin Toros lost today to the Idaho Stampede. Check out the recap at Toros Nation.

• Here is how you can enter for a chance to score some free tickets to the upcoming Spurs-Portland Trail Blazers game on March 28 at the AT&T Center:

1. Follow @TiqFeed_Texas on Twitter.

2. Once you've followed, send out a tweet that says "Follow @TiqFeed_Texas" and include your favorite live Texas sports moment, followed by the hashtag #LoneStarTiqs for chance to win free Spurs tickets.

3. One person who tweets that out will win a free pair of tickets to the March 28 Spurs-Trail Blazers game.

Lance Thomas of the San Antonio Spurs' D-League affiliate Austin Toros suffered seizures during the game today against the Idaho Stampede.

Project Spurs' Michael De Leon is at the game and has the report:

In what was a very scary moment here at the Cedar Park Center, after running back on offense during the second quarter, Toros forward Lance Thomas had what appeared to be an episode of an epileptic seizure.

We have not found any history of seizures in his basketball history, but we’ll have more information after the game and wish him a speedy recovery.

Stay tuned to Project Spurs and our affiliate Toros Nation for more details.

UPDATE:

Thomas is doing much better and joked about getting back into the game. Keep it here for more details soon.

With 1:21 left in the San Antonio Spurs (57-15), Portland Trail Blazers (42-30) in the fourth quarter, the Spurs held onto a 96-90 lead and seemingly had things under control and the Spurs were on the verge of getting win 58 of the season.

However, a look at the play-by-play of the waning moments of the fourth quarter sums up the game for the San Antonio:

Ginobili 3pt Shot: Made (21 PTS)	01:21 [SAS 96-90]
	01:12 [POR 92-96]	Miller Driving Layup Shot: Made (19 PTS)
Ginobili 3pt Shot: Missed	00:49.9
	00:47.9	Wallace Rebound (Off:2 Def:8)
	00:40.9	Batum 3pt Shot: Missed
Parker Turnover : Lost Ball (8 TO) Steal:Miller (4 ST)	00:32.9
	00:30.5 [POR 94-96]	Miller Driving Layup Shot: Made (21 PTS)
Ginobili Turnover : Lost Ball (5 TO) Steal:Matthews (2 ST)	00:07.9
	00:01.9	Matthews Layup Shot: Missed Block: Bonner (1 BLK)
	00:00.9	Batum Rebound (Off:2 Def:2)
Bonner Foul : Shooting (2 PF)	00:00.9
	00:00.9 [POR 95-96]	Batum Free Throw 1 of 2 (18 PTS)
	00:00.9 [POR 96-96]	Batum Free Throw 2 of 2 (19 PTS)
Team Timeout : Short	00:00.9
	00:00.9	Miller Substitution replaced by Camby
Novak Turnover : Bad Pass (1 TO)	00:00.9
	00:00.9	Team Timeout : Regular
	00:00.9	Camby Substitution replaced by Miller
	00:00.9	Wallace Substitution replaced by Roy
	00:00.1 [POR 98-96]	Batum Alley Oop Dunk Shot: Made (21 PTS) Assist: Miller (8 AST)

After the game, Spurs' Manu Ginobili and Tony Parker had this to say:

“One of the worst I’ve had in the NBA,” Ginobili said of the defeat. “Three turnovers in 40 seconds – crazy. And bad defense, too. We gave them two layups. Unacceptable.”

“We said that we were going to switch everything, and there was never really a pick,” said Parker, who had 15 points but also committed eight turnovers. “It was just a great play from Portland.”

The Spurs will next play the Memphis Grizzlies tomorrow night in Memphis.

• With San Antonio Spurs forward Tim Duncan out of action with an ankle injury, a few Spurs chime in on Duncan being out of action:

"Just his presence makes a difference on the floor," McDyess said. "If he's not out there, it seems like you lose confidence a little."

"Tim Duncan's a Hall of Famer, one of the best defensive big men who has played the game," rookie guard Gary Neal said. "And, of course, you can always throw it into him and get a big bucket. So, yeah, we missed him."

"Great teams are supposed to overcome that," Ginobili said. "We should be able to forget about T.D. and just play a better game." (hoopsworld.com)

• Dallas Mavericks' Tyson Chandler says the Mavericks received a wakeup call in their recent loss to the Spurs:

Before a couple of nights ago we were going into a stretch where we had been playing some bad basketball defensively and it went right into the San Antonio game. Sometimes it takes a wakeup call like that so you can say okay we can’t win that way and we have to get back to the things that we saw in training camp and that’s the way that we’re going to win. Even though they hurt sometimes when you take a loss it’s actually better for the team.” (sportsradiointerviews.com)

• Express News' Tim Griffin gives five takes on the recent loss to the Denver Nuggets:

The first game of the Without Tim Duncan Road Trip didn't turn out quite like the Spurs wanted. The Spurs wilted under withering pressure from Denver’s running game as they dropped a 115-112 defeat Wednesday night at the Pepsi Center. The loss was an aberration from most of the season for the Spurs.

• Currently, the New Orleans Hornets are sitting at the seventh spot in the Western Conference playoff race but with David West suffering a season-ending ACL injury, the Hornets could possibly fall to the eighth seed and face the Spurs in the first round:

West's injury came as a huge blow for the Hornets, who held the seventh seed in the Western Conference entering Friday's games. They were only one game ahead of No. 8 Memphis and three games ahead of the surging Houston Rockets with 10 games remaining. (wusa9.com)

Hit the jump to read about how you can win free tickets to the Spurs-Portland Trail Blazers game in San Antonio next week, a new episode of "Coach B," a D-League player patterns his game after Ginobili, and more.

We're excited to introduce a new feature at Project Spurs today called the "Writers Sound Off."

Each week, our writers will sound off on one topic of the week with short audio takes. If you are a Spurscast subscriber, you'll also be seeing podcasts with all of our takes together along with your weekly Spurscast.

Our topic this week was "the unsung hero" and we all gave our takes on who has been the unsung hero of the San Antonio Spurs this season. Would great minds think alike and the majority come up with one player/coach/front office member or would our versatile staff pick several different candidates? Listen below and then find out how to join in on the fun.

Michael De Leon, Founder -

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Robby Lim, Lead Writer -

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Arianne Villanueva, Spanish writer/podcaster -

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Jason Rogers, Staff Writer -

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Paul Garcia, Staff Writer -

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Jake Faunce, Staff Writer -

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So those are our takes for the week. Feel free to use our comments section to give your take on if you agree/disagree, who's take was the best.

The other part of this new feature is "readers talk back." If you want to sound off on this week's topic, go to Vocaroo.com, record your audio, and in the email option, send it to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. , or you can just record it on your computer with any audio recording app and send the mp3 file to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. . Your recordings will be featured on Project Spurs next week.