SAN ANTONIO SPURS (57-13) vs. DENVER NUGGETS (42-29)

With Tim Duncan out indefinitely, the San Antonio Spurs will look to inch in closer to wrapping up the top seed in the Western Conference when they visit the Denver Nuggets tonight.

The Spurs (57-13), already have clinched a playoff berth and own a big lead in the West will play without Duncan who landed awkwardly after scoring early in the first quarter Monday night and did not return in a 111-96 win over the Golden State Warriors. An MRI taken on Tuesday confirmed he sprained his left ankle.

Duncan will stay in San Antonio for rehabilitation during the team's three-game road trip that begins tonight, but the Spurs are unsure how much time he will miss. 

After Duncan left Monday's game, rookie center Tiago Splitter recorded his first double-double with 10 points and a season-high 14 rebounds.

It's likely Splitter will start in Duncan's place after doing so against the Charlotte Bobcats. Another player who could see additional minutes during Duncan's absence is forward DeJuan Blair, who did not play last Monday due to a sprained wrist but is expected to play for this game.

The Nuggets (42-29) are fifth in the West but are four games behind fourth place Oklahoma City. They are 10-4 since trading Carmelo Anthony to New York and have limited their opponents to 94.7 points per game in that span.

Denver defeated Toronto 123-90 last Monday night for their seventh straight home win -- the last three were by an average of 34.4 points.

Ty Lawson led seven Nuggets in double figures Monday with 23 points and handed out eight assists. Lawson is averaging 16.3 points and 8.1 assists in 10 games this month. He entered March averaging 10.3 points and 3.9 assists.

• After losing to the San Antonio Spurs and other top NBA teams, Dallas Mavericks' Tyson Chandler is says either the Mavericks shape up or they will endure a long summer:

“I told guys, ‘We can call it a summer real early or we can buckle down and get things together’,” Chandler said.

He was referring to the Mavericks’ defense. Or the lack thereof during the stretch in which they were picked apart by the Lakers, Spurs, Blazers and Grizzlies, among others. (dallasnews.com)

• Mavericks' Jason Terry says losing to the Memphis Grizzlies is a tougher loss to bear than losing to the Spurs:

• DallasNews.com is putting on "March Menace" where Mavericks can vote on which player has been the biggest menace to the Mavericks. Tim Duncan and Bruce Bowen were nominated and went head-to-head. Seems Duncan is the bigger menace to the Mavericks than Bowen. Duncan "won" with 258 votes to Bowen's 213.

• Former NBA coach Don Nelson says he was almost the Spurs coach:

In the wake of the Webber debacle in 1994, with Nelson realizing his time in Oakland was short, Spurs general manager Gregg Popovich -- a former assistant coach to Nelson -- offered his old boss the coaching job.

"I begged him to keep Chris Webber and to let me go,'' Nelson said. "I said keep Webber, keep the player, get a new coach and release me. I told him I had the job. And (he) wouldn't do it. As a result, Popovich is still coaching, with four titles. I could have had Tim Duncan.'' (mercurynews.com)

Hit the jump to read about how you can win free tickets to the Spurs-Blazers game in San Antonio, Tim Duncan receiving a nomination to be a spokesperson, Celtics fans watching the Spurs every move, and more.

As you all know, last week I had an opportunity to speak with basketball great Bill Walton in New York City at a basketball round table.

In case you missed it, here is what he had to say about San Antonio Spurs' Manu Ginobili:

"Manu Ginobili is more than capable of being the best player in any game. In any game he can be the best guy. What he has been able to do coming from Argentina, I mean truly, he is the epitome of true greatness in the globalized, changing world that we all live in today," said Walton to Project Spurs. 

Click HERE to read Walton's complete thoughts on Ginobili.

However, during the roundtable I had an opportunity to get his thoughts on which teams will make it to the 2011 NBA Finals. Check out the video of Walton answering my question and what he thinks about the Spurs chances coming out of the West.

Also, here is more video of Walton talking about basketball in general including the NCAA Tournament, BYU's Jimmer Fredette, the Boston Celtics, and more.

The San Antonio spurs have announced that an MRI today revealed that Tim Duncan does have a sprained left ankle.

Spurs forward Tim Duncan had an MRI today which confirmed that he has a sprained left ankle. He will not accompany the team on its upcoming three-game road-trip (Denver, Portland and Memphis). Instead he'll remain in San Antonio for treatment and rehabilitation. A timeline for his return has not yet been determined.

With Duncan sitting out against the Bobcats, Tiago Splitter started and also played a bigger role stepping in for Duncan last night. In those two games, he's averaged nine points, 10 rebounds, two steals and had a blocked shot against Charlotte, with his biggest contribution being a double-double last night.

Expect to see more of Splitter while Duncan is out. The increase in minutes and role for Splitter, while it comes because of an unfortunate injury, is also a welcome one. Splitter has struggled throughout the season save for a few bright spots, but he know looks to be grasping the Spurs system and his role.

That will only help, considering one of the only weaknesses this season has been interior defense and the playoffs are right around the corner. The loss of Duncan could also mean added minutes for DeJuan Blair, Antonio McDyess and Steve Novak.

According to Grizzlies.com, Rudy Gay is out for the season:

Memphis Grizzlies forward Rudy Gay will undergo season-ending surgery to repair a left shoulder subluxation, as recommended by team physician Dr. Fred Azar of the Campbell Clinic. Gay also received this recommendation from Dr. Barry Phillips and Dr. Robert Miller of the Campbell Clinic and Dr. James Andrews in Birmingham, Ala.

The need for surgery has always been a possibility in the event that non-operative rehabilitation was unsuccessful. The date of the surgery is yet to be determined.

The 6-8, 240-pound forward has missed the last 14 games, including last night’s 103-85 victory over Utah, since suffering the injury on Feb. 15 vs. Philadelphia. Memphis is 8-6 over that span.

Currently, Memphis is sitting at the eighth spot in the Western Conference playoff race which would mean a first round date with San Antonio. The Grizzlies loss of Gay will be crucial should these two teams face off in the first round of the NBA playoffs.

He ranks second on the team in scoring with 19.8 points, averages 2.8 assists, shoots .471 from the field, .396 from the three-point line, .805 from the free-throw line in 39.9 minutes. Last season versus the Spurs, he averaged 12.8 points per game and averages 12.7 points versus the Spurs for his career.

However, Memphis showed it can go toe-to-toe with the Spurs without Gay.

In the Spurs' last two meetings versus Memphis without Gay, the Spurs edged out a 95-88 win in San Antonio back in Febuary - though the Spurs did lose Tony Parker in that game due to injury. In the next meeting, Memphis won 109-93 in Memphis and as Darrell Arthur put it, Memphis won't go down without a fight:

"We're not going to lie down at any point. We're going to keep fighting. We're going to try to make the playoffs. That's our goal for this year. And we don't care who's in our way. We're going to fight and not give up."

Memphis and San Antonio will square off one more time on March 27 in Memphis.

Box Score | Advanced Stats | GameFlow

The Golden State Warriors had history against them on Monday night as they played the San Antonio Spurs, who have not lost a game at home to the Warriors since 1997.

The Spurs kept the streak alive and are now 45-7 against the Warriors in the Duncan era with a 111-96 thrashing of the Golden State Warriors.

Duncan, who went down with a left ankle injury midway through the first quarter and will be out for the next two weeks, left the game with one rebounds shy of passing Dennis Rodman for 21st on the All-Time NBA rebounding list.

With Duncan out, Tiago Splitter contributed with eight points and six rebounds in the first quarter. His contribution, along with 12 first-quarter points form Manu Ginobili, gave the Spurs a 32 to 21 lead at the end of the first quarter.

With Matt Bonner's outside shot drawing iron, the Spurs relied on Ginobili, Steve Novak and Gary Neal to keep the foot on the accelerator against the Warriors to finish off the first half. Normally a high-scoring duo, starting guards Monta Ellis and Stephen Curry were limited to a combined 2 points in the first half, and watched the Spurs go into the lockerroom with a nine-point lead, 54-45.

The Spurs went on a 18-5 run in the third quarter, led by Tony Parker, George Hill and Steve Novak, who hit two three-pointers during the run. Ellis and Curry tried to get the Warriors back into the game in the fourth quarter, but their 27-25 lead in the fourth quarter wasn't enough and didn't come early enough.

Manu Ginobili led both teams in scoring with 28 points. Tony Parker finished with 17 points and 15 assists, and Tiago Splitter made his presence felt with 10 points and 14 rebounds.

“Today (Splitter) had a very good game. In the first half, he played a couple one-on-ones, he passed the ball very well," Ginobili said about Splitter's contribution with Tim Duncan out. "As I said probably a million times, he’s a good player, he understands the game, he’s solid, reliable.  He just has to be out there and feel confident and know that the team trusts him. That’s what happened to me, what happened to everyone that comes here for the first time, so he’s going to give us a big hand.”

The Spurs are now 57-13 on the season, are 33-3 at home and are seven games ahead of the Los Angeles Lakers, which at this point seems to be an insurmountable lead with just 12 games remaining on the schedule for the Spurs.

In Retrospect

The San Antonio Spurs (57-13) took care of business winning another game they suppose to win, beating the Golden State Warriors (30-41) 111-96 at the AT&T Center.

However, the victory was marred when Tim Duncan sustained a left ankle sprain with 7:47 left in the first quarter and missed the rest of the game.

Duncan crashed to the floor after hitting a short jumper, appearing to twist his foot on the ankle of Golden State rookie center Ekpe Udoh.

He was in pain for more than a minute, grabbing at the left ankle with both hands, before he limped back to the Spurs locker room for treatment. X-rays were negative.

Duncan's availability for the Spurs’ upcoming road trip which begins Wednesday night in Denver is uncertain.

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

84.2 - The Spurs shot a decent 16-of-19 (84.2%) from the free throw line, including 6-of-6 apiece from Richard Jefferson and Manu Ginobili. The Warriors weren't that bad from the foul line, making 14-of-18 (77.8%) of their foul shots.

49.4 - San Antonio shot fairly well from the floor, making 42-of-85 (49.4%) field goal attempts while Golden State went 38-of-84 (45.2%) from the field.

48 - The Spurs dominated on the inside, outscoring the Warriors 48-34 on inside points.

45 - The Warriors won the rebound battle, outrebounding the Spurs 45-42. 

29 - For the second straight game, the Spurs shared the ball very well. They finished the game with 29 assists compared to the Warriors' 16. 

• The San Antonio Spurs have invited Manu Ginobili's former coach Ettore Messian to spend a few games with the team: 

In the meantime, Messina plans to accept an invitation from San Antonio to spend eight days with the Spurs -- and his former star at Bologna, Manu Ginobili -- later this month.

"I'm really excited to see a couple of practices, some games, watch some films with the team, and of course to see Manu," Messina said. "I've never had the opportunity to see Manu during the season." (sportsillustrated.cnn.com)

• The past Spurs-Dallas Mavericks game was not a TV ratings hit in of all places - Dallas:

Friday night's Dallas Mavericks-San Antonio Spurs game on Fox Sports Southwest seemingly should have had enough juice to at least win its time slot.

But another hotly competitive game between the NBA's two Texas titans again came up short in the D-FW Nielsens, as did the Mavs on their home court scoreboard.

The game averaged just 90,034 D-FW viewers, falling well short of NBC's competing two-hour Dateline (180,068 viewers) while also narrowly trailing Fox4's local newscast in the 9 p.m. hour. Fox's Fringe also outdrew the Mavs from 8 to 9 p.m. (pegasusnews.com)

• Express News' Tim Griffin talks about a couple of big games on the schedule for the Spurs.

Hit the jump to read how you can win free tickets to the Spurs-Trail Blazers game in San Antonio, Chris Quinn on the Miami Heat, Celtics fans spying on the Spurs, and more.

I got a chance to talk briefly with Golden State Warriors Head Coach Keith Smart, who played with the Spurs during the 1989 season, before his team tips off against the Spurs in just under 20 minutes.

Smart talked about San Antonio Spurs forward Tim Duncan, and the myth that he's too old and isn't as effective as he once was..

Even the Spurs staff have joked about Duncan's age in his Bobcats injury report listing him out due to "trop vieux," or too old in English. 

Smart says Duncan's contribution has only declined because he is taking on a less-selfish role.

"He's not thinking so much of himself, he's going to make big plays defensively, like he did in Dallas a couple nights ago," Smart said.

Against Dallas, Duncan finished with 22 points, eight rebounds and three blocked shots. Showing once again, that he is still capable of dominating on any given night.

"He has that savvy NBA veteran know-how," Smart said. "(DeJuan) Blair is going to continue to grow into that role, but he has the luxury to have a veteran to help him along."

And while Blair will be out tonight, likely not because he is "trop jeunes," Duncan will be counted on, just as he was when these two teams met in November and Duncan delivered with a triple-double. Tonight, Duncan will have history on his side. The Spurs have gone 44-7 against the Warriors since Duncan's rookie year.

The San Antonio Spurs (56-13) will host the Golden State Warriors (30-40) tonight and will be looking to continue their dominance over the Warriors in San Antonio. The Warriors have not won a game in the Alamo City since 1997.

This will be the last meeting between the two teams this season with the Spurs currently holding a 3-0 series lead. In thelast meeting, the Spurs won 113-102 in Oakland. Manu Ginobili led the Spurs with 20 points. Tony Parker chipped in with 18 points and 11 assists.

It will also be a meeting of two of the best offensive teams as the Spurs average 103.4 points per game while the Warriors average 103.1 points per game. However, the Spurs only allow 97.1 points per game and the Warriors allow 105.9 points per game.

To discuss the game tonight, I turned to fellow Bloguin blogger, Joshua Russell of Warriors Court by far the best Warriors site in the Internet.

In this Q&A Joshua talks about the Warriors yearly struggles in San Antonio, how Golden State can turn things around, will the Warriors snap their losing streak, and more. 

Mike: The Warriors have not been able to win a game on the Spurs' home court since 1997. What will it take for the Warriors to end the San Antonio curse?

Joshua: In short, a miracle. Seriously, for the Warriors to beat the Spurs in San Antonio, it will have to take monster games from nearly everyone wearing a Warriors uniform and it would take the kind of defensive effort that the Warriors seldom employ. If I were the Spurs, I would feel pretty darn confident that the streak will stay in tact.

You wrote recently how the Warriors are like an abusive spouse. What do they need to do to turn things around?