According to a San Antonio Spurs press release, forward DeJuan Blair underwent an MRI today which revealed he suffered a sprained left wrist.
He suffered the injury in the first half of last night's game against the Charlotte Bobcats. But apparently, the injury isn't very serious and he is expected to play against the Golden State Warriors tomorrow.
The Spurs tipoff against the Warriors at 7:30 p.m. CST. The game will be broadcast on Fox Sports Southwest locally.
The San Antonio Spurs took care of the Charlotte Bobcats last night, beating Charlotte 109-98 in San Antonio.
Afterwards, Spurs head coach Gregg Popovich spoke on the team's focus after the huge win against the Dallas Mavericks on the road. In particular, Popovich felt Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili set the tone for the Spurs early versus Charlotte.
(video woai.com)
With Tim Duncan sitting out of last night's home game against the Charlotte Bobcats, the San Antonio Spurs were going to need some help from their second unit.
The reserves, and notably forward 
Steve Novak, delivered in a 109-98 win as the Spurs cruised to their 56th win of the season.
The Bobcats' only lead of the game came off a Gerald Henderson layup and free throw. The Spurs evened it up with 9:34 remaining in the first quarter and never looked back.
With Duncan out, Tiago Splitter, who most hoped would pair with Duncan in the paint this season, started in place of him.
But the real story was Novak, who was recently signed for the remainder of the season. Novak led the Spurs in scoring off the bench with 19 points on 5-of-8 from beyond the arch in just under 19 minutes.
"My role on this team is to spread the floor for guys like Timmy and let Tony get in the middle, break guys down and kick it out," Novak said. "That's what the Spurs have done long before I was here."
Gary Neal (15), George Hill (12) and Matt Bonner (10) also provided some offensive firepower off the bench, with all scoring in double figures.
"To have Steve come in and everyone off the bench, George, Gary and Steve all came in and did a great job," Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said.
While Splitter is still far from playoff-ready, he did perform well in his first start, finishing with eight points, six rebounds and one blocked shot in 23 minutes.
The Spurs are now seven games ahead of the Los Angeles Lakers, who eclipsed the Dallas Mavericks for second place when the Spurs beat the Mavs on Friday night. With last night's win, the Spurs also now 32-3 at home.
• The San Antonio Spurs are having one of their best seasons at the free-throw line:
San Antonio is having its best season at the foul line since 1981-'82, when it made 77.6% of its free throws.
The Tony Parker-Tim Duncan-Manu Ginobili Spurs have never shot better than 76.1% (in 2007-'08), and the 2005-'06 team that won a franchise-record 63 games shot 70.2%. Entering Friday, the Spurs were shooting 76.9%.
Ginobili and George Hill are both shooting over 85%, and DeJuan Blair and Parker have improved from the line. Duncan, a streaky foul shooter, is on pace for the fewest attempts of his career.
"It usually depends on the main guys," said Ginobili. "When Miami and Phoenix had Shaq (O'Neal), the guy shooting the most free throws, the percentage is going to go down. We've got a bunch of 80% guys. That makes it higher. We've been improving slowly. To tell you the truth, I don't know the secret." (jsonline.com)
• Austin Toros' Marcus Cousin will not be getting another 10-day contract from the Utah Jazz. Read the report at Toros Nation.
• The Toros also won against the Rio Grande Valley Vipers and keep their playoff hopes alive. Read the recap at Toros Nation.
• RedsArmy.com places the Spurs under the Boston Celtics' microscope.
• Express News' Tim Griffin shares some notes from the Spurs win over the Dallas Mavericks.
• 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.
The San Antonio Spurs (55-13) host the Charlotte Bobcats (28-40) in their last meeting of the NBA season.
The last time these teams met, it was a 95-91 win for the Spurs in Charlotte. Manu Ginobili led the way with 26 points, while Tim Duncan posted a double-double with 14 points and 10 rebounds.
The Spurs hold an 11-2 advantage in the all-time series against the Bobcats and are 5-1 in San Antonio versus Charlotte. Currently, the Spurs have won three straight over the Bobcats in San Antonio and the Spurs have never lost a series to Charlotte.
To discuss tonight's matchup, I turn to fellow NBA Bloguin blogger Andrew Lail and Bruce Barker of Trade Street Post. The best Bobcats site on the Internet. Period!
In this Q&A, Andrew and Bruce talk about the recent trade of Gerald Wallace to the Portland Trail Blazers, the Bobcats' new coach, what Spurs fans can expect from Charlotte tonight and more.
Jeff: What was the overall feeling of Bobcats fans when All-Star Gerald Wallace was traded to Portland?
Trade Street Post: Lots of words could be used to describe the feelings felt. We all felt betrayed, lied to, stabbed in the back, and most importantly, that the CEO and FO were giving up on the team. Cooler heads felt upset, but understood the reasoning behind it all. It didn't make the pill any easier to swallow, but we all know in the long run, the first round picks and salary savings will pay of in the future of this team.
This might be a question that will cause you to write a novel but under the Michael Jordan era, the Bobcats have gone through some major ups and downs. Trade Street Post recently wrote an open letter to him but how much of the blame falls on Jordan for the recent "downs" - i.e. Larry Brown, the struggles under former coach Sam Vincent, etc., in the Charlotte franchise?
San Antonio Spurs' Manu Ginobili has been playing stellar ball this season for the Spurs averaging 17.9 points, 3.8 rebounds, and 5.0 assists this season and after eight years in the NBA, he shows no signs of slowing down.
He signed a three-year extension with San Antonio but when asked about when he might retire from playing, Manu said he doesn't know but his plan is to finish out the next three season with the Spurs.
However, retirement does goes through his mind year-after-year:
“No sé cuándo me retiraré, la idea es seguir por tres años más, pero no sé. Es una decisión que se piensa año tras años”.
I'm sure Spurs fans dread the day Ginobili hangs up his basketball sneakers. Until then, soak in every game he plays because there will never be another player like Manu.
After three days of rest and three days focusing on improving their defense, the San Antonio Spurs (55-13) bounced back nicely, beating the Dallas Mavericks (48-21) 97-91 on the road.
When the Spurs couldn't make their shots, they turned to their defense and made sure they secure another victory over their South West Division rivals. The Spurs won the season series 3-1.
It's now time to look at some numbers that stood out in latest Spurs' win.
94.7 - The Spurs were nearly perfect from the line, making 18-of-19 (94.7%) free throw attempts, including 8-of-8 from Manu Ginobili and 6-of-6 from Tim Duncan. The Mavericks on the other hand, connected on on 13-of-17 (76.5%) of their foul shots.
80 - San Antonio's "Big Three" combined for 80 points and outscored the Mavericks' starters 80-44.
49.3 - The Mavericks shot fairly well from the floor, making 36-of-73 (49.3%) field goal attempts while the Spurs went 36-of-83 (43.4%) from the field.
46 - Both teams were even inside the shaded area, scoring 46 points apiece.
41 - Dallas won the rebound battle, outrebounding the San Antonio 41-36. The Spurs made 7-of-17 (41.2%) 3-pointers and held the Mavericks to just 6-of-23 (26.1%) shooting from behind the arc.
• The San Antonio Spurs and Dallas Mavericks have an intense rivalry but it's only appreciated in Texas and not nationally according to Mavericks' owner Mark Cuban:
"It's appreciated in Texas,'' Cuban said. "But outside the state of Texas they don't give a [hoot].
Spurs and Mavericks players chime in on the rivalry:
• With the NCAA Tournament underway, Express News' Tim Griffin talks about new Spur Danny Green as the only Spurs player with an NCAA title ring.
• NBA.com looked at the best bench lineups and the San Antonio Spurs have the best:
But the No. 1 offensive lineup in the league is also a bench unit. The Spurs‘ lineup of George Hill, Gary Neal, Manu Ginobili, Matt Bonner and Antonio McDyess barely meets the 100 minutes requirement, but has been amazingly efficient.
That Spurs lineup edges out the Bulls’ lineup of Rose, Brewer, Luol Deng, Gibson and Asik as the best bench lineup in the league overall. And yes, Ginobili, Rose and Deng are all starters.
• Take a listen to the catchy theme song "Go Coach B" from Matt Bonner's "Fundamentals of the Game" series and download it at Spurs.com.
Go Coach B by Bodega Girls by SanAntonioSpurs
Hit the jump to read on how you can win free tickets to the Spurs-Portland Trail Blazers in San Antonio this month, a former Spur is listed as a top 10 player, where you can see Matt Bonner in San Antonio and more.
Former San Antonio Spurs owner Red McCombs will be honored at the 2011 Muhammad Ali Celebrity Fight Night Foundation Awards as a leader in sports, entertainment and business:
“I’m so honored to be recognized by the Muhammad Ali foundation,” McCombs says.
“I’ve always admired those who are committed to making a difference and this (Fight Night Foundation) organization makes a difference and is supported by people who make a difference,” McCombs says. “It’s a privilege to be honored with the other recipients who have done so much for their causes also.”
He has also been honored by the American Academy of Achievement, San Antonio Business Hall of Fame, San Antonio Sports Hall of Fame, Texas Business Hall of Fame, and the College Football Hall of Fame.
McCombs and others were instrumental in bringing the Spurs to San Antonio from Dallas when the team was the Dallas Chaparrals in a "lend-lease" arrangement. Once the Spurs were a hit in San Antonio, he bought the team (1972) and the rest is history.
no commentsTonight the San Antonio Spurs will face their I-35 rival Dallas Mavericks and Mavericks head coach 
Rick Carlisle had this to say about the Spurs:
"This is by far the best team in basketball," Carlisle said after this morning's shootaround at American Airlines Center. "They have been all year long."
"They've just been extremely consistent; they've been healthy all year, very efficient, terrific at both ends and it's culminated with a great record for them," Carlisle said. "Every seven games if you look at their trend -- whether it's from the previous seven -- you get a different list of guys that are the leading scorers, and the order changes a little bit.
"I believe they're the only team in the league that has nine guys averaging 20 or more minutes. So that tells you about their balance and the fact that you really can't key in on one particular guy."
Of course Spurs head coach Gregg Popovich differed about his own team:
"Is he trying to be tricky again?" Popovich asked. "Ricky, what are you doing? He's by far the biggest exaggerator I've ever seen. He's being quite disingenuous."
"I wouldn't want to play Dallas 15 times in a row," Popovich said. "That would be difficult. I don't think I'd want to play Dallas followed by the Lakers followed by Denver every single night. It'll be nice to have a night where you can relax a little bit, truth be known."
I'm sure just once Spurs fans would love to hear Popovich come out and say "Hell yeah we're the best team in the NBA!"
