The San Antonio Spurs picked up win number 40 tonight as they defeated their divisional rival Houston Rockets 108-95 improving their league leading record to 40-7.

After the game I spoke with Spurs' guard Gary Neal, who finished with two points and one steal, about the win against the Rockets, his first Rodeo Road Trip and more.

Jeff: Spurs had the edge tonight on fast-break points 24 to 13. This up-tempo style seems to be a perfect fit for the young players on the team.

Gary: We have some energy coming off the bench with George (Hill), and DeJuan (Blair) playing in the starting lineup and I get to play a little bit and I think the tempo plays a lot to us. Tim Duncan is a major key for our offense but at the same time we still have Tony Parker, Manu Ginobili and George Hill too, that you also have to try to implement into the offense and try to get them to be most effective.

I think we have a great balance. We run when we need to, and when the game is close we know that we can go into TD and he can come through for us.

The edge in fast-break points stands out, especially going against a defensive-minded team like the Rockets.

Yeah, we knew they were going to come in and play hard and play aggressive. I think we had a good balance tonight of running and also executing on offense the way coach Pop wants us to. I just think to get the win at home before we go on the nine game road trip is extremely important.

Getting 40 wins at this point of the season has to be a great feeling.

Oh yeah! It's huge. Right now I think we are six or seven games in front of the closest team in the West. That's what you play 82 games for, to have the home-court advantage and to position yourself in the best position to make it to the Finals. That's our goal to make it to the Finals and win a championship so that's what these 82 games are doing for us and we just hope we can continue to stay healthy and continue to keep building on our record.

How does it feel to go on your first ever Rodeo Road Trip?

We'll see. If you ask me that at the end of the road trip I can probably give you a better feeling. We are just going to take it one game at a time and hopefully we can come back with more wins than losses.

Have any of the veterans who have done the road trip given you any advice about it?

No, we haven't really talked about it. It's probably going to be a situation where you got to pack enough underwear and stuff like that. As far as basketball goes, we'll take it one game at a time, respect every opponent, and just come out and compete for those 48 minutes to try to win.

• It’s rare that DeJuan Blair gets to matchup with someone his own size (literally); but in the game against Houston tonight, Blair finally has that opportunity, writes Tim Griffin:

“DeJuan always takes any challenge,” McDyess said. “But when he sees a guy his size that he can be bigger and stronger than him, he always plays hard. He always plays well against guys like that.” 

• If the Spurs team were football players, what positions would they play? Tim Griffin wrote an interesting piece about his ideal Spurs football squad:

George Hill: His earlier experience makes him an ideal wide receiver or a defensive back. I could see him as a shutdown cornerback who would relish the chances to contain a top receiver — much like he accepts his defensive challenges in the NBA.

• On Wednesday night, BYU’s Jimmer Fredette made headlines for his 43-point game against No. 4 San Diego State. Yahoo’s Adrian Wojnarowski wrote a piece on where Freddete is currently assessed amongst NBA scouts:

Nearly every NBA team had a representative – including general managers Pat Riley of the Miami Heat, R.C. Buford of the San Antonio Spurs, Daryl Morey of the Houston Rockets and Bryan Colangelo of the Toronto Raptors – to watch him drop 43 points on No. 4 San Diego State on Wednesday night in Provo, Utah.

• ESPNs Marc Stein revealed who he has picked as his All Star reserves. In his Weekend Dime column, he chooses two Spurs players to represent the West:

Stein on Ginobili: Reinforcing the long-held notion that the Spurs are at their most dangerous when their crafty Argentine lefty is healthy, Ginobili has been the best player on the league's best team through the season's opening half. Which makes him an automatic.

Stein on Duncan: You likewise get the feeling that David Stern will make Duncan his Commissioner's Pick to replace Yao if the coaches don't pick him ... so I decided to bank on that and leave him available to Stern.

Squeaky Johnson of the San Antonio Spurs' D-League affiliate Austin Toros is back with a brand new episode of Squeak TV. Check it out.

Before tonight's tipoff between the San Antonio Spurs and Houston Rockets, I had a chance to speak to Rockets' Luis Scola to get a few thoughts on tonight's matchup and if playing against the team that drafted him still adds any extra motivation.

Jeff: Playing against the team that drafted you in 2002, does playing against the Spurs still add any extra motivation?

Luis: No that happened a long time ago. We're playing against a great team at their home, it's a great court to play and it's always a fun game to play. I think that every game that goes by, the less it has to do with being drafted and traded. (sic).

What is the key for the Rockets to come out of San Antonio with a win?

Just play a solid game. This is a very solid team, they really know how to play. So if you want to play any other way that is not solid, they're going to punish you. Just play a solid game, stay in the game. It's a tough place to play but if we play solid we have a chance. (sic).

Come back tomorrow for the complete interview with Scola.

The San Antonio Spurs (39-7) play the Houston Rockets (22-26) tonight at the AT&T Center. This will be the Spurs last home game before cows, bulls, sheep and country music invade the AT&T Center for the annual Stock Show and Rodeo. The Spurs will begin their Rodeo Road trip in Portland on Tuesday night and won’t return until February 23, against the Oklahoma City Thunder. 

This will be the second meeting between the Southwest Division rivals; the Spurs narrowly escaped with a win (Spurs 124- Rockets 121) on November 6 in San Antonio, as the Spurs needed overtime to put Houston away. Manu Ginobili led the Spurs with 28 points and 5 assists. Richard Jefferson provided 22 points and Tony Parker added 21 points and 14 assists. Houston was led by Kevin Martins 24 points, along with Luis Scolas 20 points and 8 rebounds. The Spurs almost let a 13-point lead slip away and Houston poured in 29 points to force overtime against San Antonio.

The Spurs currently posses the leagues best record and are 9-1 in their last 10 games. The Spurs score 104.3ppg while holding teams to 96.9ppg (Victory Margin: +7.3). The Spurs home record is 24-2 thus far.

The Rockets come into Texas at 5-5 in their last 10 games. The Rockets score 105.3ppg but give up 104.8ppg (Victory Margin: +0.5). The Rockets are 9-16 on the road.

The Top 3 Players For Each Team

San Antonio

Manu Ginobili: 18.7ppg, 4.9ast, 1.76 stl

Tony Parker: 17.5ppg, 6.9ast, 1.39stl

Tim Duncan: 13.6ppg, 9.5rbd, 2.0 blk

Houston

Kevin Martin: 23.3ppg

Luis Scola: 19.3ppg, 8.3rbd

Aaron Brooks: 12.4ppg

It appears James Anderson's rehab stint with the Austin Toros was shorter than expected.

Mikkayla Guillett of Toros Nation is at the Cedar Park Center covering the Toros-Thunderbirds game and spoke to trainer Dice Yamaguchi about Anderson's absence from the bench tonight.

Yes you read that correctly. Anderson who had been rehabbing an injury with the Austin Toros for the past few days was present during warm-ups and seemed to be doing well. By tip-off Anderson was missing from the bench. At half-time it was confirmed by the Toros trainer Dice Yamaguchi that Anderson was driving back to San Antonio for tonight’s game.

Anderson averaged 14.5 points and two rebounds in 14 minutes per game in his two-game stint in Austin. After watching both games, it appears he's having no problems on offense, but his defense and lateral quickness is not where it was before his injury and he'll still need more time to work on his conditioning before he is back in game shape.

Toros coach Brad Jones noted on Thursday night that Anderson seemed tired after an increase in minutes. While he will be available for tonight's game against the Rockets, the Spurs will likely start him off with about ten minutes of playing time and gradually increase it every game.

Jeff Garcia and I will be covering tonight's game and will monitor Anderson's progress while he trades out his Toros #33 jersey for his Spurs #25 jersey. 

The San Antonio Spurs will soon begin their annual Rodeo Road Trip but Spurs' DeJuan Blair will be planning a side-trip to the upcoming Superbowl where the Pittsburgh native will be there to cheer on his hometown team Pittsburgh Steelers next Sunday.

(video woai.com)

• Matt Bonner will miss his seventh straight game on Saturday against the Houston Rockets according to Tim Griffin. Gary Neal is also undetermined to play after being injured in the Utah game on Wednesday night:

The Spurs have announced that forward Matt Bonner will miss Saturday’s game against Houston as he continues to recover from a bone bruise on his right knee.

It is undetermined if rookie guard Gary Neal will play against the Rockets after he sustained an injury to his rear end and his left knee late in the Spurs’ victory at Utah Wednesday night. 

• After missing a career high 26 games last season; Spurs point guard Tony Parker is relieved the team hasn’t had to endure any major injuries thus far, writes Tim Griffin:

“This year, I don’t want to talk about it too much,” Parker said. ”I’m just happy everybody’s healthy.”

• ESPNs J.A. Adande has any interesting article regarding Los Angeles Lakers coach Phil Jackson; Jackson discusses his “supposed” retirement at the end of the season. Jackson also gives his thoughts on why the Lakers can still defeat the Spurs and other contenders:

He believes the Lakers can catch the San Antonio Spurs, who currently have a six-game lead over the Lakers in the Western Conference, for the No. 1 playoff seed, but is confident the Lakers are experienced enough to win a series if they have to play the Spurs or Celtics or Heat without homecourt advantage.

• Today, the Canadian National Basketball team discovered the teams they will be grouped with this summer, in 1 of 2 attempts to qualify for the 2012 Olympics. The Canadians are looking to add the firepower of Spurs forward Matt Bonner to their lineup, writes Eric Koreen:

San Antonio Spurs forward Matt Bonner is included in that group. The New Hampshire native will have been a Canadian resident for two years this June, with three years the necessary time to allow a player to play for his country.

• Glen Fine (Inspector General Justice) of the Department of Justice is leaving his position after ten years. Fine was once a former draft pick of the Spurs but chose to take his career into politics, writes Jolie Lee:

His career could have taken a much different turn earlier in his life. As an undergraduate at Harvard College, Fine had been drafted by the San Antonio Spurs. However, Fine said he knew he would not make a career out of basketball.

• The San Antonio Spurs have signed a three year deal with Express Jets to setup a new “courtside club” for clientele at the AT&T Center.

"We are excited to partner with such a first class organization as the San Antonio Spurs" says Express Jets president Jason Leavelle. "We felt like this was a unique opportunity, and being a San Antonio based company allows us to continue our support in the local community and continue our quest to be the leading provider of private aircraft solutions.

• Buisnessinsider.com’s sports section released an intriguing article comparing NBA teams in to “mumblecore” movies:

(If you're not familiar with the film genre that emerged in the late aughts known as "mumblecore," this New York Times article's a good primer. Essentially, it's a group of lo-fi, low-budget movies that expanded on the serial vignettes previously seen in films like Richard Linklater's Slacker.)

San Antonio Spurs: The Pleasure of Being Robbed - Both have clear French influences. 

San Antonio Spurs' rookie James Anderson has been sent to the Austin Toros (Spurs' D-League affiliate) to continue to get back in game shape after fully recovering from his injured right foot he suffered back in November.

After last night's Toros game against the New Mexico Thunderbirds, Toros' coach Brad Jones spoke on Anderson and directions he received from the Spurs on Anderson's recovery.

CEDAR PARK, TX - After appearing in six games for the San Antonio Spurs, rookie James Anderson suffered a right foot injury setting back a fantastic start to his NBA career.

After rehabbing his foot, the Spurs sent Anderson to their D-League affiliate, the Austin Toros, to begin getting back into game shape before heading back to the Spurs.

I caught up with Anderson, who finished with 17 points in limited action last night, before the tip-off of last night's Toros-New Mexico Thunderbirds game and we spoke about his Toros debut, how his foot is feeling and much more.

Jeff: 12 points in 12 minutes. Sounds like you haven't lost a step since you suffered the foot injury.

James: (smiles) I'm just trying to get back into a rhythm. I felt pretty good. I've been anxious to play ever since they told me that I was coming here to play a couple of games and I'm ready to get back on the court and just working my way back up.

How is the foot feeling?

The foot is feeling fine. I think it's 100%. Only thing right now is to try to get into a good rhythm, get my conditioning back so I can be ready to go when they call me.

Coming into the draft, most felt your defense was suspect. Has that been something totally unfounded?

Yeah it was. For the most part I'm a solid defender and that's what I'm continuing to work on. Out in Oklahoma State, I thought I was a solid defender. I defended some of the top guys in the (Big 12) conference every night. I take it upon myself to continue to work and get better and I'm going to keep doing that. On on a team like the Spurs you're going to have to play defense or you're not going to play at all. I'm just taking it upon myself to learn all the rotations we do with the Spurs and as of now I'm just learning to try to become a better one-on-one defender.

In the few games you suited up for the Spurs, what has been the biggest thing you have learned?

You can't rest. The minute you rest, that's when guys take advantage of it. You got to be alert, be ready, be in the defensive stance the whole time and just be active and energized the whole game.

Spurs coach Gregg Popovich is known to be hard on rookies. Is that true?

It's just a lot of teaching. I'm new to the organization, they treat all the rookies the same. They're just trying to teach them and make them feel comfortable in not only how they play the game but how they learn the game and that's what makes him such a great coach. He treats everybody the same. He has no favorites.

How long will you be playing with the Toros?

I really don't know. I'm just waiting on them to call me back. As long as I'm here, I'm just focusing on what I got to do here and do what I have to do to help the Toros win. When they call me, they call me and I'll be ready to go.

(At this point James takes time out of my interview to greet Toros fans and sign a few autographs for the children as they were huddled around us listening to the interview. Classy move on James' part.)

How was it as a rookie when you first stepped on the court with the Spurs "Big Three" of Tim Duncan, Manu Ginobili and Tony Parker for the first time?

It was just crazy! To see them in person and to see them every day. Knowing you watched them coming up. I used to watch Manu all the time because we play the same position. Just watching Timmy and to see them all in person is  just a great thing to be a part of and it's a great feeling to know these guys.

Has Manu showed you the euro-step yet?

I kind of learned it a little bit by just watching him on TV. I can't do it as good as him but I think I can get it good enough to get by the defender.

With the Spurs having the best record in the NBA, is it shocking to you or did you see this coming?

This Spurs team is very special. This is something they haven't really did before (sic). We got off to a good start and we can't take it for granted. We got to keep pushing and working. Continue to get better as a team. Continue to learn what we are doing wrong on the defensive end. Just keep going forward and not take a step backwards.