The San Antonio Spurs look to beat the Minnesota Timberwolves for the 15th straight time when the teams meet in San Antonio tonight to open a home-and-home set.

San Antonio (30-6) holds the league's best record but has struggled in both matchups this season against the Timberwolves.

The Spurs were down by 11 at the end of the third quarter of an eventual 113-109 overtime victory last November 24, and trailed by 15 entering the final period of a 107-101 win on December 3.

The Timberwolves (9-28) are seeking to avoid a fourth consecutive loss. After blowing an eight-point lead with less than three minutes remaining in a 108-105 overtime loss to undermanned Charlotte last Wednesday, the Timberwolves trailed by as many as 24 before losing 108-98 to Portland last Friday night.

While the Timberwolves continue to falter, Kevin Love hasn't shown any signs of slowing down. He had 30 points and 19 rebounds versus the Trail Blazers for his 23rd consecutive double-double.

Love is averaging 28.5 points and 20.0 boards in the season series with the Spurs this year. Defensive specialist Corey Brewer is likely to make his fourth start for the Wolves. He leads the team with 1.6 steals per game.

The Timberwolves haven't won in San Antonio since Jan. 14, 2004, a 100-93 victory in which Duncan had 36 points and 20 rebounds in a losing effort. Another thing going for the Spurs is they are a veteran team that has confidence and knows what is takes to win ball games.  

KEYS TO THE GAME

SPURS:

The San Antonio Spurs held the Indiana Pacers to 1 of 15 shooting in the fourth quarter to win 90-87 and snap a two-game skid.

Roy Hibbert had a chance to give the Pacers the lead in the closing seconds, but his hook shot against Tim Duncan fell short.

Tony Parker sealed the victory by making two free throws with 0.8 seconds left in the game.

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

45 - The Pacers edged the Spurs in the rebounding department, 45-43.

37.5 - After allowing the Boston Celtics to shoot a blistering 61.3% from the field in their previous game, the Spurs played better defense against the Pacers and held their opponents to just 33-88 (37.5%) shooting from the field.

25 - Manu Ginobili had a game-high 25 points, and had four rebounds and four assists for San Antonio.

23-12 - Tyler Hansbrough had a tremendous game, he had career highs of 23 points and 12 rebounds in his first start of the season for the Pacers.

16 - George Hill provided the needed boost from the Spurs bench, scoring 16 points, grabbing four rebounds and dishing out four assists in his return home to Indiana.

15 - Duncan had a solid all-around game for San Antonio, he scored 15 points, grabbed 15 rebounds and added five block shots. Danny Granger scored 15 points for the Pacers. The Spurs held the Pacers to just 1-15 shooting from the field in the final period to overcome a 15-point deficit.

8 - The Spurs had eight blocks and eight steals, three coming from Ginobili. The Pacers also had eight blocks for the game. 

0 - Antonio McDyess did not commit a single turnover for the entire game and had the highest +/- rating with +12.

Rookie Watch: Gary Neal had 11 points, two rebounds, one assists, and a steal in 24 minutes of playing time. Tiago Splitter did not play for the second straight game.

What's Next? The Spurs will host the Minnesota Timberwolves at the AT&T Center in San Antonio on Sunday.

Follow Robby Lim on Twitter @RobbyLim21

• The San Antonio Spurs took on the Indiana Pacers tonight which meant a return home for George Hill who attended IUPUI. This season he's taken on the sixth-man role for the team and had this to say:

"I really didn't know until the start of the season," said Hill, a guard who started 43 games last year. "I'm still part of the main rotation, and it's not about how you start the game, it's about how you finish."I just continue to play the same way I've been playing, and I've been a good second-half player." (source indystar.com)

• After losing two games in a row, mvptexas.com asks if the Spurs should be worried:

For some two losses in a row might not be the cause for worry, but having a defense that let 233 points get scored on them is. In San Antonio it just means it is time to get back on track in the next game.

• Express News' Tim Griffin talks about Manu Ginobili's passion:

Ginobili mirrored that attitude Tuesday night in New York when he angrily slammed a towel on the bench when Gregg Popovich pulled his starters near the end of San Antonio’s loss to the Knicks. His coach was conceding the game a little early for Ginobili’s taste and he didn’t like experiencing it.

• The 2011 NBA All-Star Game is coming up next month and at the rate the votes are coming in, it would seem Tim Duncan might not be there in Los Angeles. NBA.com discussed whether Duncan deserves an All-Star nod:

Career and future Hall of Famedom notwithstanding, does Tim Duncan deserve an All-Star nod given his stats this season?

Steve Aschburner: This sort of debate doesn’t happen in baseball. For one, the All-Star rosters are bigger than the NBA’s 12. More important, baseball appreciates and plays to its history more than other sports. A legendary player such as Duncan, if he were a left fielder, would be embraced even in a down season for his star power and career achievements. The NBA is much more about now. (The one flaw I’ll acknowledge is that Duncan always has been a thinking man’s Hall of Famer – even in his prime, it would have been tedious to sit through a highlight reel of his greatest moments, given how un-flashy and fundamentally focused he’s been.)

Fran Blinebury: The idea that players have to earn their way onto the All-Star team with their performance in the first half of the season went out the window with canvas Chuck Taylors and the steam engine. When the NBA turned the event into a “Dancing With the Stars” for dunkers, it is simply a popularity contest. Yao Ming gets the China vote, even though he’s likely finish. Allen Iverson was a favorite last year. Magic Johnson was retired in 1992 when he was named MVP. Just relax and enjoy the show.

• Ene-B-A caught up with Manu Ginobili and Tiago Splitter recently. Check out the video HERE.

• Two former Spurs' players Garrett Temple and Blake Ahearn are getting a look from the Phoenix Suns:

BayHawks lead local investor Owen McCormick confirmed the site of the workout.

"I'm happy Blake and Garrett are getting this opportunity," McCormick said. "It's great for the organization in that it's showing the NBA thinks two of our guys are NBA players and it sends the right message to our players that at any time you can get the call." (source goerie.com)

• And if you missed the San Antonio Spurs-New York Knicks matchup this past week, then you probably missed this exchange between DeJuan Blair and Ronny Turiaf.

• Want to win a pair of free tickets to a San Antonio Spurs home game this month? Of course you do! All you have to do it follow @projectspurstiq on Twitter to enter. Easy huh?

The San Antonio Spurs look to snap their two-game losing streak tonight as they face the Indiana Pacers in Indiana. This will be the last game of their mini road-trip which has not been kind. So far they are 0-2 with losses to the New York Knicks and Boston Celtics.

To talk about tonight's matchup, I turn to friend of Project Spurs, Jared Wade of Eight Points Nine Seconds which is a fantastic website you have to visit for all things Pacers. He also writes for Both Teams Played Hard and Hardwood Paroxysm.

In this Q&A Jared talks about the Pacers' additions of Darren Collison and James Posey, rookie Paul George, the Pacers' strategy heading into tonight's contest and more.

Jeff: Over the off season the Pacers picked up Darren Collison and James Posey. How have they been for Indiana so far this season?

Jared: I have been trying to see the brighter side for a while, but we're well into January now so I think calling Collison anything other than disappointing would be an overly rosy assessment. He has only two 20-point games (with the second finally coming earlier this week) and zero games of even 8 assists. He is still struggling to learn the offense, which is understandable to a degree, but you would think that would spur him to at least occasionally freelance somewhat and be productive by just playing basketball. He is indeed aggressive at times and has stretches of high-level play. But there has been more mediocre play — and rather bad defense — than anything else.

Posey has been slightly better than expected. I thought he was just a bloated contract that would contribute nothing. But he has hit some big threes during crucial times, giving the Pacers momentum and the confidence that can come when a two-time champion shows the young guys what stepping up is about. He has played decent defense as well. Still, he is probably getting too many minutes. Most fans believe so at least.

Aside from dunking the ball over 7-2 teammate Roy Hibbert in practice, how would you assess rookie Paul George. Likes? Dislikes?

He hasn't played much. His athleticism is always on display and he seems to have good instincts about where to be and what to do on the floor. Like most raw rookies, however, he just thinks too much and is a little lost, trying too hard to remember what he is supposed to be doing assignment-wise vs. just doing what he knows how to do as a basketball player. He's shown enough that I am still eager about his future though. Can shoot. Can play D. Can finish in transition. Can break a guy off the dribble. Could be like Trevor Ariza with more refined fundamental skills.

After tonight's game against the Spurs, the Pacers have a rough stretch of games. Games against the Nuggets, Bulls, Orlando, and Dallas. Do you expect the Pacers to pull of some upsets and is this stretch of games which determines the Pacers' season?

No. And probably.

The Spurs are coming off two tough losses to the Knicks and Celtics. Feel the Pacers might be catching San Antonio at the right time to get a win?

No.

This Spurs team can run or play a half-court game. What should be the strategy for the Pacers heading into tonight's contest?

They need to execute offensively. It's a rare sight, and this may sound obvious, but when they do that, they are actually a pretty good team. The defense has held up in almost every game. They really are playing well on that side. So when they can establish Roy Hibbert in the post, get cutters making the defense react and move the ball around to get open shots, they can beat anyone. Thing is, they haven't done that very many times since November ended.

Which is the better matchup to watch: Collison-Parker or Hibbert-Duncan?

At this point, the "better" matchup will probably be Collison/Parker. Hibbert has just been so bad for so long that I wouldn't expect much other than Timmy stealing his lunch money and kicking his puppy all night long. In Roy's defense, he did play fine against the Knicks last Sunday (which was somehow the Pacers last game). But Coach Jim O'Brien, as he does constantly, inserted some really weird lineups in the second half and Roy barely played. Hopefully for Pacers fans, Hibbert will be able to build on his better offense from that game even if it was in limited minutes. Because as we saw earlier this year, Hibbert vs. Duncan can be pretty fun to watch.

• San Antonio Spurs' forward Richard Jefferson said he wanted to return to where it all started for him, the New Jersey Nets, when he was a free-agent this past summer:

"Having roots there, just respecting the organization and wanting to help bring them back to a level in which they had been accustomed to for most of the [last] decade, I explored that," Jefferson said. "That was something they really weren’t interested in." (source northjersey.com)

• DeJuan Blair continues his NBA maturation process in his second season  with the Spurs. Here is what he had to say about still developing his game:

“This year, I’ve been up and down. I’m just trying to keep it consistent,” Blair said. “They want me to be more productive. Once I get that in my game, that’s when I’ll get that consistency.”

“Just keep learning every day [was the biggest lesson]. It’s a learning process,” Blair said. “It doesn’t matter how good you are and everything like that as long as you get better [that’s what is most important]. With this organization and this team, there’s a lot to learn every day. It’s all about just getting that going.”

And even though he had a solid rookie season, Popovich had plenty he wanted his young post man to work on during the off-season.

“Shooting, dribbling, quickness and all that [is what he wanted me to focus on]. He wanted me to keep it going,” Blair said. (source foxsportssouthwest.com)

• Express News' Tim Griffin reports that the Spurs are dominating the San Antonio TV airwaves:

And the team announced Thursday that the team is leading the NBA in local television ratings and are off to the best television ratings start in the history of the franchise after games so far this season.

• The Spurs lost a close game against the Boston Celtics last night but Manu Ginobili had a chance to win the game with a three-point shot. However, Celtics' Paul Pierce got the block on Ginobili's shot-attempt:

(source greenstreet.weei.com)

• Speaking of the loss to Boston, Celtics' Glen Davis felt the Spurs insulted him by leaving him wide open for jump-shots:

“I’m shocked. I’m really shocked,” he said following the Celtics 105-103 win. “I work on [my shot] a lot and I’ve won games with it. That’s what I do majority of the time. For a team not to play me, that’s like an insult. But you know, you’ve just got to make them pay.” (source csnne.com)

The San Antonio Spurs went into Boston looking to get a win against the best team in the Eastern Conference. Unfortunately for the Spurs, the Celtics had other plans.

With Rajon Rondo leading the way with a triple-double (12 points, 22 assists, 10 rebounds) and Ray Allen scoring 31 points off 13 for 16 shooting, the Celtics handed the Spurs their sixth loss of the season wo were without Kevin Garnett who was out of action due to a calf injury.

After the game, I caught up with Spurs' forward Matt Bonner to discuss the loss to the Celtics.

Jeff: This was a great game but unfortunately the Spurs came out on the losing end. What happened in the final possession? Was it just poor execution or something the Celtics did defensively? 

Matt: Was a little of both. It didn't work out. They did a good job of recognizing what we were trying to do and taking it away.

Many felt this game tonight could be a sneak preview of the NBA Finals.

It would be awesome just to be in the Finals and if it's against the Celtics for me personally it would be a bonus. But that's a long ways away and a lot of hard work and luck in between.

Was there any hangover from the loss to the New York Knicks in tonight's game against the Celtics?

I don't think so. I know we got off to a little bit of a slow start but we picked it up and played hard and gave it our all. Ray Allen was on fire. We made Glen Davis make jump shots and he did. They beat us. They were the better team.

Crazy ending to this game. If I were to have told you before the game that Ray Allen would miss two free-throws when the game was on the line would you have believed me?

(laughs) Yeah that was crazy! Especially how well he shot all game.

Next for the Spurs will be a game against the Indiana Pacers. Your outlook heading into that matchup after two tough losses.

Back to the drawing board. It's another game. Play hard and execute our game plan and try to get a win.

For the second straight night, the Spurs came up short on the defensive end. As a result, they suffered two straight losses for the first time this season.

Even with their defensive struggles, the Spurs were within striking distance in the final seconds and had a chance to steal the game but Paul Pierce partially blocked Ginobili's 3-point attempt to preserve a 105-103 win for the Boston Celtics.  

Here are some numbers that stood out in this Spurs' recent loss.

94.1 - The Spurs shot well from the free throw line making 16-17 (94.1%) of their foul shots. The Celtics were uncharacteristically atrocious from the foul line making just 8-15 (53.3%) of their free throws.

61.3 - The Celtics shot a blistering 46-75 (61.3%) from the field while the Spurs connected on 39-86 (45.3%) of their field goal attempts.

55.6 - Boston were also accurate from behind the arc, hitting 5-9 (55.6%) from 3-point range. San Antonio made 9-22 (40.9%) of their 3-pointers. 

34 - The Celtics outscored the Spurs on inside points 34-28. They also played better as a team, collecting 34 assists compared to the Spurs' 20 dimes.

31 - Ray Allen had a game-high 31 points on 13-16 shooting from the field, including 2-4 from beyond the arc.

24 - Manu Ginobili led the Spurs with 24 points, eight rebounds and five steals.

23 - Glen Davis scored a season-high 23 points for Boston as he started in place of Kevin Garnett.

22-12-10 - Rajon Rondo had 22 assists, 12 points and 10 rebounds for his 11th career triple-double, adding six steals to help Boston beat the Spurs in a matchup of the NBA's top two teams.

18 - Tim Duncan and Tony Parker had 18 points a piece for the Spurs while Pierce added 18 points for Boston.

8 - The Spurs' running game did not work on their favor, they were outscored by the Celtics 8-14 on fast break points.

0 - Matt Bonner and Gary Neal did not commit a single turnover for the entire game.

Rookie Watch: Neal had 10 points, two rebounds and two assists in 20 minutes of action. Tiago Splitter did not play.

What's Next? The Spurs will visit the Indiana Pacers at the Conseco Fieldhouse in Indiana on Friday.

Follow Robby Lim on Twitter @RobbyLim21

BOSTON -- "They executed better in the last minute and a half in the third-quarter and the last minute and a half of the fourth-quarter."

Execution was on the lips of San Antonio Spurs' coach Gregg Popovich after the game; however, it was not the Spurs who executed properly in Boston.

It was a meeting of the top two teams in the NBA in what was billed as an NBA Finals preview between the Spurs and Boston Celtics.

The Spurs were coming off a stunning loss to the New York Knicks and were looking to shake it off against a Celtics team without Kevin Garnett. However, in the opening moments, the game had a feel that what happened in New York was about to happen in Boston.

The Spurs defense was lacking in the opening moments of the game as the Celtics were getting in the lane and easy shots at the basket due to terrible defense by the Spurs. This led to an early timeout called by Spurs' coach Gregg Popovich.

As the first-half progressed, the Spurs' vaunted defense finally began to appear and Gary Neal and Richard Jefferson were hitting their shots. At the end of the first quarter it was 27-25 Celtics with the lead.

The second-quarter opened with Celtics' Nate Robinson hitting a pair of jumpers which got the Celtics' crowd in a frenzy but luckily for the Spurs, Richard Jefferson was also finding his groove as at one point he was 3/3 from the field, 2/2 from the three-point line, 1/1 from the free-throw line in 14 minutes of play. Tony Parker began to get hot from the field, finding his way to the basket, coupled with Shaquille O'Neal missing free-throws led to the Spurs taking a slim half-time lead, 51-49.

The second-half of the game was nip-and-tuck and when the game got close, it became the Manu Ginobili and Rajon Rondo show. Both were making crucial plays for their respective teams -- Rondo was making the timely assist while Ginobili was hitting the crucial shot. But poor execution down the stretch by the Spurs allowed Boston to build a lead and just when the Spurs were seemingly out of the game, the Celtics let the door open for a Spurs comeback.

The Celtics started to commit fouls, and Paul Pierce picked up a technical foul which led to the Spurs taking the lead. Ray Allen missed two free-throws which would have sealed the game for Boston and left the door open for the Spurs to escape Boston with a win.

However, poor execution down the stretch by the Spurs and failure to execute their final play led to the Spurs' second-consecutive loss. Spurs lose to the Celtics, 105-103 and fall to 29-6 for the season.

They will next face the Indiana Pacers in Indiana.

Notes:

• Popovich on Celtics' Rondo and his triple-double performance with 22 assists, 12 points and 10 rebounds, "He affects the game on both ends of the court. He puts it in the hole. He plays"D," gets steals, rebounds, he does everything. He's a great all-around player."
• Popovich on Celtics' Ray Allen who scored 31 points off 13-16 shooting, "Ray got off to a great start because he does that better than anybody in basketball." "If it was practice I don't know if anyone in the league would hit 13 out of 16. He does it in a game. I think he's pretty good."
• Glen Davis scored 23 points for Boston.
• Spurs had six players in double-figures with Ginobili leading the Spurs with 24 points.
• Spurs shot 45.3% while the Celtics shots 61.3%.

The San Antonio Spurs look to shake off the loss to the New York Knicks and get back on the winning track with a visit to Boston to face the Boston Celtics.

To preview the game, John Karalis from Reds Army and I got together in Boston to preview the game tonight between the top two teams in the NBA.

Enjoy and don't forget to visit Reds Army for all things Celtics.