• San Antonio Spurs' Tim Duncan and head coach Gregg Popovich did an interview with ESPN and spoke on the first half of the season and why the Spurs are winning so much. A very entertaining interview.

• Fox Sports talks about the Spurs are the true story of the NBA and not the Carmelo Anthony saga:

In a league that proclaims teamwork as its highest value, the Spurs represent everything ‘Melo does not: the collective as opposed to the individual, experience and know-how over mere talent. Carmelo Anthony doesn’t make anybody better (or at least, hasn’t learned to yet). But the Spurs, even in their aged state, remain bigger than the sum of their parts.

• Jeff Fox at Hoops Manifesto released his Big Three rankings:

• Express News' Tim Griffin talks about the Spurs on facing the newest member of the New Jersey Nets, Deron Williams, this Friday.

Hit the jump to read about the Spurs being the better team over the NBA's best, a Boston Celtics fan gives props to the Spurs, Ginobili wants to go to the rodeo, and more.

I had a chance to speak with Oklahoma City Thunder forward Kevin Durant prior to tonight's game and he had plenty to say about the San Antonio Spurs. 

Asked if anyone could catch the Spurs and their league-leading record, Durant doubted any team could catch them for the first seed in the playoffs.

"I don't think anyone can catch them," Durant said. "You've got to give these guys a lot of credit. They're playing phenomenally."

As for matching up with the Spurs tonight, the all-star forward realized his team had a challenge ahead.

"They're a tough team to match up with. Our defenses are pretty similar but their chemistry is better," Durant said. "We're just going to try and stop them I guess. They're a tough team, but these are the kinds of challenges we like."

Tonight the San Antonio Spurs will face the Oklahoma City Thunder in San Antonio as the Spurs finally return after the long Rodeo Road Trip.

It will also be a return home for former San Antonio Spurs Assistant General Manager Sam Presti, who is now the Thunder's General Manager.

With the Spurs impressive start to the season and their 46-10 record, Presti spoke on his former team and their league-leading record.

“One thing that’s probably surprising to most people is this is just about the time right now where they really start to pick up momentum. … They’re notoriously kind of slow starters, but they kind of came out of the gates clicking. I think they’re a great example. They’ve been together for quite a while, they’ve gone through a lot of ups and downs.” (sportsradiointerviews.com)

Presti's Thunder, which include All-Stars Kevin Durant and Russel Westbrook, will try to narrow the 9.5 game gap between the teams with a win on the road tonight. The game tips at 6 p.m. CST.

San Antonio Spurs rookie James Anderson will be available to play in tonight's game against the Oklahoma City Thunder after the Spurs recalled him from the Austin Toros today.

Anderson, a 6-6, 215-pound guard, was originally assigned to the Toros on January 26 for a rehab assignment after being diagnosed with a stress fracture in the fifth metatarsal of his right foot on November 11. He was recalled by the Spurs on January 29 and appeared in three games before being re-assigned to the Toros on February 7. Anderson played in seven games with Austin, averaging 14.7 points, 4.9 rebounds and 2.0 assists in 25.1 minutes per game. He shot .447 (42-94) from the field, .346 (9-26) from three-point territory and .714 (10-14) from the free throw line.

In his most recent game with the Toros on Monday, Anderson played the most minutes he's played in his seven-game stint with the team. He logged 36 minutes, and although he struggled with his shot, he managed to finish with 10 points, 12 rebounds, two steals and one blocked shot. 

The added playing time has helped with Anderson's conditioning, and he's finding ways to contribute defensively, which is especially important to the Spurs.

With Anderson back in San Antonio, it's doubtful that Steve Novak will be signed to a third 10-day contract once he finishes his second in early March.

As many of you know, San Antonio Spurs' Tim Duncan is a huge Chicago Bears fan. But which Bears player is his favorite: Dick Butkus, Mike Singletary or Brian Urlacher? Find out.

(video woai.com)

The San Antonio Spurs (46-10) finally return to San Antonio after a long Rodeo Road Trip to host the Oklahoma City Thunder (36-19) at the AT&T Center.

The Spurs will be looking to get back on the winning track as they lost to the Chicago Bulls before the All-Star break, 109-99. They will also be facing a tough stretch of games to close out the regular season with remaining games against solid teams such as the Thunder, Miami Heat, and Boston Celtics.

For the Thunder, they come off a win against the Los Angeles Clippers last night winning 111to 88 in Oklahoma City. They will also be looking to snap a five-game losing streak to the Spurs which includes two losses to the Spurs this season. The most recent loss was 101-74 loss in San Antonio in January.

To discuss tonight's contest, I turn to fellow NBA blogger here at Bloguin Rob Kelly from Thunder Ballers. A fantastic, one-stop site on the Internet for all things Thunder. You can also read the Q&A I did for Rob by clicking HERE.

In this Q&A Rob talks about the Thunder maturing, if Oklahoma City can contend with the Spurs, and more. 

Jeff: Now that the All-Star break is over, what do you expect from the Thunder heading into the stretch run?

Rob: The Thunder have a somewhat balanced schedule in the unofficial second half of the season. They are still continuing to mature and grow together as a team, and I see them remaining on track. I am obviously hoping that they can at least earn the #4 seed in the Western Conference, but could catch the Los Angeles Lakers for the #3 seed if they continue to sputter. Either way, home court advantage in the first round of the playoffs will be crucial.

The Thunder are second to the Spurs in wins after losses with a .833 winning percentage. Seems the Thunder are finally maturing or do you think this young Thunder team still needs more time to mature? 

• It's the final 26 games of the San Antonio Spurs season and the playoffs are fast approaching. What do the Spurs have to say about the stretch run? Check it out.

• Our good buddy John Karalis at Reds Army sent me an email about the odds Bodog.com is currently giving the Spurs to win the NBA title this season. I can understand the Celtics over the Spurs but the Heat, and Lakers have a better shot over the Spurs at a title? Is it me or are the Spurs totally not getting any respect from Bodog?

Odds to win 2011 NBA Championship
Miami Heat                               11/5
Boston Celtics                           7/2
Los Angeles Lakers                    4/1
San Antonio Spurs                     9/2

• Express News' Tim Griffin reports it is still uncertain when Tiago Splitter will be back on the court for the Spurs:

Team officials described Splitter’s condition after Tuesday’s practice as day-to-day. He appeared in several practice drills while the media was present before leaving the court with a team trainer.

• The Spurs will be hosting the Silver and Black Give Back weekend for community initiatives:

Silver & Black Give Back, formerly Spurs Foundation, will be raising awareness and funds for its community initiatives during the first-ever Silver & Black Give Back Weekend, Friday, Feb. 25 through Sunday, Feb. 27.

The Silver & Black Weekend tips-off with two weekend game broadcasts dedicated to raising awareness and funds for the programs supported by Silver & Black Give Back. On Friday, the Spurs vs. New Jersey Nets game will air on KENS 5 TV at 7:30 p.m. and on Sunday the Spurs vs. Memphis Grizzlies game will television locally on FOX Sports Southwest at 6:00 p.m. Fans will also have opportunities during both game broadcasts to make donations in support of Silver and Black Give Back initiatives by calling 210.444.5050. (spurs.com)

• Hoops World has Spurs' coach Gregg Popovich as their Coach of the Year:

#1 Gregg Popovich, San Antonio Spurs, 46-10, Pace-to-win 67, last year: 50-32
(Last week #1, 46-9)

Coach Popovich has led his team to winning streaks of 12, 10, and 8 games this season and has only lost two-games in a row once and that was on the road back-to-back against the Knicks and Celtics.  The Spurs have just finished the toughest stretch of games they will face this year, the annual rodeo road-trip, where they went 6-3.  It will not be easy to catch Popovich.

Hit the jump to read how to win free tickets to tomorrow's Spurs-Oklahoma City Thunder game, praise the Spurs received from Chicago, George Hill giving back to the community, and more.

In what seems to be a common occurrence now, but Dallas Mavericks' Jason Terry is at it again when it comes to the San Antonio Spurs.

Terry says Dallas can catch the San Antonio whether it be in the regular season or the playoffs:

"We're going to catch them sooner or later, whether it's now or in the playoffs," Terry said Tuesday following the Mavericks' first post-All-Star break practice. "We'd rather it be in the playoffs, in the Western finals or what have you. But we're going to catch them." (espn.com)

I understand Terry has to say this.

No player will come out in front of the media and say all hope is lost and not try to be the number one team in the NBA. I can appreciate his moxie. But to say such as thing like this will only add some extra motivation for the Spurs should they face the Mavericks in the playoffs. He keeps giving the Spurs more and more locker room material.

Currently, the Mavericks are second in the Southwest Division, six games behind the Spurs and have split the two meetings this season.

Technically the Mavericks are within striking distance of the number one seed but the Spurs would have to play absolutely terrible for Dallas to catch them which is something highly unlikely to occur. 

However, one thing is clear - Terry fired a verbal shot at the Spurs and this will not sit well with Spurs fans across the globe seeing how Terry has a history of taking verbal and physical shots at San Antonio. Ask former Spur Michael Finley.

But dig deeper Spurs fans. San Antonio is in the mind of Terry which can be used to the Spurs advantage. Need proof? Read what he had to say about losing in the first-round to the Spurs:

"What happened to us last year in the first round," Terry said, "we're still motivated by it."

What do you have to say about Terry's latest shot at the Spurs?

This past week the San Antonio Spurs went 1-1 to finish off the Rodeo Road Trip at 6-3. The Spurs still hold the number one seed in the NBA with a five game lead over the Boston Celtics in the East, and a six game lead over the Dallas Mavericks in the West.

The Spurs last game was a loss in Chicago and put the team at 46-10 for the season. With only 26 games left before the playoffs, the remaining focus for the team will be to improve their defense, lockup the number one seed and marginalize players’ minutes as much as possible.

In the words of Rafiki "It is time" to begin Views From The Couch volume 12. 

Is Skip Bayless onto something?

After the Spurs loss to the Bulls, the following morning ESPN's Skip Bayless tweeted: 

Biggest concern about Spurs: Manu NBA MVP 1st 2 months. Last 6 weeks: awful by his standards. Injury? Age? Slump?

This was a very good question, so I wanted to dig in and figure out if Skip was onto something. I dug up all the stats on Manu from the last 6 weeks. This covers a 20 game span beginning January 9 against the Minnesota Timberwolves and ends on the last game February 17 in Chicago.

On this episode of the Spurscast, Jeff and I did a quick rundown of the San Antonio Spurs Rodeo Road Trip and, as always, listed some of our positives and negatives of the games, including Gary Neal shooting his way out of his slump.

We also talked about the upcoming trade deadline and some of the possibilities with the Spurs, although Jeff and I doubt the Spurs will make any moves until after the trade deadline.

To close out the show, we discussed the topic of the week, All-Star weekend and how DeJuan Blair, Gary Neal, Tim Duncan and Manu Ginobili did.

The Spurscast. The original Spurs podcast.

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.