As the San Antonio Spurs have navigated through a decade or more of dominance in the Western Conference, there have been few constants. 

The on-court leadership of Tim Duncan may be the singular factor that pervades the category.  As the sun sets on the previous decade, Spurs fans witnessed the peaceful transfer of such power from the previous ruler of the proverbial kingdom, David Robinson, to the young and promising Duncan.  As we begin the dawn of a new decade, are we seeing a similar transfer to the not-so-young but ever reliable Manu Ginobili?

It certainly doesn't have the same symbolic hallmarks: Manu has been an integral part of the Spurs organization for many years now, unlike Duncan when he took the reigns.  Manu was not a promising draft pick packaged with the requisite larger than life expectations.  He also may not have many more years left than Duncan, whose aging has been oft discussed by a relentlessly over-dramatic media (lest we forget that Tim, in limited minutes, is in the midst of a season in which he is less than half a rebound away from averaging a double-double.)

But there are a few interesting trends that are difficult to deny.

In three consecutive game-winning scenarios this month, Pop has drawn up plays that had Manu taking the final shot.  In one other, the play was clearly designed to go to Manu who was forced to pass out of a double team to Tim who, surprised by the ball, quickly gave it up to Jefferson who in turn dropped an air-ball to send the game to overtime.  

As we've discussed before, Manu's minutes are actually up this season.  Manu is averaging nearly thirty-two minutes per game right now; the second most on the team next to Parker.  He's playing the minutes that Tim Duncan used to play and having similar, if not better, success.  He is averaging nearly 20 points a game for only the second time in his career while Tim is averaging the fewest points per game (13.6) of his lengthy career.  In each of the season's in which the Spurs won a championship, Tim averaged over twenty himself.  Is Manu filling that role now?  He's clearly the go-to-guy on the team when the game is on the line.  

Is this Manu's team?

On a team such as the Spurs, and with individuals like Tim Duncan and Manu Ginobili, such a question is almost certainly not a point of any contention.  Indeed, rarely have professional sports seen an organization so focused on winning as a team and so dearth of selfish players looking for individual accolades.  But nonetheless, one wonders who is the locker room leader at this point in the season. 

Who do the players trust the most with the ball when the game is on the line?

Seeing the San Antonio Spurs beat the Los Angeles Lakers last night was fantastic but the icing on the cake was watching George Hill not back down from Kobe Bryant when the two exchanged words.

The game may be over, but San Antonio Spurs fans are still living it up and to get you through your morning, we get to relive it again in "The Morning After."

Box Score |Advanced Stats | GameFlow

• Postgame Q&A

I spoke with Rey Moralde of The No Look Pass right after the game to get his thoughts on what he had seen the previous 48 minutes, his thoughts on what the Spurs did right, can work on and what the Lakers need to do to get out of their current 3-game skid.

1. Did you learn anything new about the Spurs tonight that you didn't know before this game?

Their defense was outstanding in this game. Maybe part of that was that Kobe shot the ball too much (Shannon Brown was the only one to shoot more than 10 times... and he finished 1 for 11) but holding the Lakers down to 82 is pretty damn impressive. The Spurs had changed their identity this year but, in this game, we got a little throwback.

2. Spurs fans are sometimes notorious for getting a little overexcited. While I'm beaming, I'll wait to start popping bottles until this happens in the playoffs. Is this just a case of a bad game, catching the Lakers at a bad time, or was that a true barometer of the level the Spurs are playing and capable of playing this year.

Probably a little bit of both... but teams trying to three-peat have had trouble. Look at the '93 and '98 Bulls. Look at the 2002 Lakers. Those were the toughest title years for those squads. I'm not sure if the Spurs are peaking too early or not, it's hard to tell... but this is still the Spurs. They still have Gregg Popovich and they still have Tim Duncan. They are the masters of discipline and I won't doubt it if they actually roll through the regular season.

3. Kobe isn't always going to be limited this much, so even in a win, where do you think the Spurs can improve before they play again?

It was very noticeable that Tim Duncan wasn't in the game much... although he did bother Pau Gasol quite a bit. But his offensive output was minimal (1/7, 2 pts.). Tiago Splitter was also supposed to be a key to the team but he was non-existent in this game. So basically, your frontline needs to step up. DeJuan Bear, er, Blair, though... man, did he play a key in this game. I wish the Lakers didn't trade their first round pick and used it on Blair instead!

4. What were the biggest keys for the Spurs tonight, and what will the Lakers have to do to get out this slump?

We knew coming in that the guard play was going to be key. Parker, Neal, and Hill were running all over the place. While Ginobili shot badly, he set the table for the rest of the guys. Plus DeJuan Blair was a killer on the offensive glass when the game, at the time, wasn't out of reach. Seemed like the Lakers didn't want to put effort or something.

As far as the Lakers go... we've seen this before but this is to a different degree now. The Lakers have lost three straight for the second time this season. They have to step up on defense. They have to stop whining to the referees when nothing is going their way (the refs did a good job calling this game, by the way... and I will never use that as an excuse). They have to stop making bad decisions. And Kobe's emotions seemed to get in the way. Better ball control, better effort on rebounding... man, this sounds like I'm talking about a lottery team.

Now I'm just hoping they play a tad better against the Hornets, who have Chris Paul. God. I'm going to jump into a bedful of knives.

• Quoteable

"Things just kinda fed off of me not being able to make shots and everybody else started not being able to make shots…missing free throws and layups and stuff like that. I just gotta put the ball in the damn hole. It’s my responsibility. It’s my job and I gotta do it."

- Kobe Bryant.

• In Black and White

Spurs show Lakers who's best in west (Boston Globe)

Lakers come unglued again in 97-82 loss to San Antonio (Los Angeles Times)

Notes on a scorecard (San Antonio Express News)

Kobe joins Lakers' latest blame game (Yahoo Sports)

Another blowout loss (or is this rock bottom yet?) (Forum Blue and Gold)

• Balanced offense

We've been saying all season long that balanced offense has been a huge factor to the Spurs success. On a night where Tim Duncan and Manu Ginobili combined for four-of-nineteen from the field, that couldn't be more obvious as Tony Parker, DeJuan Blair, Gary Neal and George Hill carried the scoring load. Add James Anderson to that mix when he comes back and the Spurs could be pretty hard to stop in the post-season.

• Tweeting the game

I don't get why Celtic fans want to face the Lakers in the Finals, wouldn't you want to beat the other Dynasty of this decade? the Spurs? - @ProBskbllTalk

I'm absolutely loving the clinic on NBAtv. - @DMArtest

In addition to his 10 points, George Hill had nine boards, three assists, two steals and four blocked shots in 27 minutes. Awesome. - @stackmack

Tim Duncan and Manu Ginobili had bad shooting nights but it didn't matter, with a great defensive team effort and Tony Parker scoring 23 points, the San Antonio Spurs beat the defending champion Los Angeles Lakers 97-82. 

Here are some numbers that stood out in this latest Spurs victory.

42 - The Lakers entered the game leading the league on points in the paint but the Spurs dominated on the inside and outscored the Lakers 42-28 on inside points.

35.4 - San Antonio held the Lakers to just 29-82 shooting from the field (35.4%) to set a new season-low for a Spurs opponent.

23 - Tony Parker had a game-high 23 points, including 14 in the first half that kept the Spurs in the game.

21 - Kobe Bryant led the Lakers with 21 points but only shot 8-27 from the field as he missed 13 shots in a row after making four of his first five attempts.

17-15 - DeJuan Blair was suppose to struggle against long athletic bigs like Pau Gasol, Andrew Bynum and Lamar Odom but that was not the case. Blair had season-highs 17 points and 15 rebounds while shooting 8-14 from the field in 32 minutes of action.

17 - The Spurs' transition game worked in their favor, they outscored the Lakers 17-8 on fast break points.

15 - With Duncan and Ginobili struggling on offense, Richard Jefferson turned out a solid performance. He scored 15 points and grabbed seven rebounds for the Spurs.

10-9-4 - George Hill led the Spurs bench with 10 points, added a season high nine boards and a career-high four block shots. But more importantly, he never backed down and did a great job on containing Kobe on the offensive end.

9 - The Spurs took care of the ball they only had nine turnovers to the Lakers' 16.

0 - How well did Parker, Jefferson and Hill played? All players did not commit a single turnover for the entire game.

Rookie Watch: Neal had nine points, two rebounds, one assists and one steal in 18 minutes of action. Tiago Splitter had two points, one rebound, one assists and a block shot in 7 minutes of playing time.

What's Next? The Spurs will visit the Dallas Mavericks at the American Airlines Arena in Dallas on Thursday.

Follow Robby Lim on Twitter @RobbyLim21

Aside from tonight's huge matchup between the San Antonio Spurs and the Los Angeles Lakers, another big game coming this Thursday will be the Spurs taking on the Dallas Mavericks.

Granted the Spurs must deal with the Lakers tonight, but here is some news regarding Dirk Nowitzki and the recent knee injury he suffered against the Oklahoma City Thunder:
 
Dirk Nowitzki’s knee injury has been diagnosed as a sprain, and he will miss tonight's game while being listed as "day-to-day'' from there.

"Hopefully,'' he said before the MRI, "I'll be back in action soon." (source foxsportssouthwest.com)

Currently the Spurs are leading the Mavericks in the Southwest Division by 1.5 games. Needless to say, this upcoming matchup will be huge for both teams and the Mavericks would want Nowitzki back in the lineup. For the Spurs, a win would increase their lead in the division and for the Mavericks it would mean gaining a full game on the Spurs.

Highly likely Nowitzki will give it a go come Thursday with both teams wanting to send a message to one another let alone the division implications.

Tonight's matchup between the San Antonio Spurs and the Los Angeles Lakers will be a huge game and if you think there are no more tickets for the game, think again! Click HERE to pick up some tickets for tonight's game. Pretty great seats left and inexpensive.

Oh and ever wondered how much tickets have been for the Spurs versus the best in the West? Check out this graphic. Yeah to say tonight's game is huge is an understatement.

After 30 regular season games, the San Antonio Spurs (26-4) remain on top of the NBA standings. While it is nice to be league leaders in terms of games won, the Spurs will be the first ones to point out their relatively easy schedule early on helped them to maintain a little cushion over the NBA's elite teams. Not to mention a 12 and 10 game winning streak.

Some may think the Spurs two double-digit winning streaks were not as impressive because of lack of quality opponents. Then the Spurs were blown out in a second game of back-to-back at the hands of the Orlando Magic, and the loss could have fueled the Spurs naysayers.

They bounced back by beating a short-handed Washington Wizards team (94-80) using defense. As the season continues, their upcoming schedule will provide a tough test, that should they succeed, will prove doubters wrong. 

It starts today with a visit from the two-time defending champion Los Angeles Lakers, followed by road game against the Dallas Mavericks. They will then play the Oklahoma City Thunder at the AT&T Center on New Year's Day, before playing the New York Knicks and Boston Celtics on the road on back-to-back nights.

The Spurs took care off business by winning early and often this season. However, they will now have the proverbial "bulls eye" on their back when they face opposing teams. Especially the teams they will play against in the upcoming days. Besides, who doesn't want to take down the NBA's best team?

Now, the team's resolve will be challenged as they face a tough stretch. This will be a good measuring stick to see where this team is really at. 

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

• David Aldridge of NBA.com talks about the San Antonio Spurs and the subtle changes made which has made them one of the top teams in the NBA:

So much for the supposedly warmer and cuddlier Pop, who went to a zone defense out of desperation last week against Denver because, as he recalled it, no one was guarding anybody, anyway. Might as well mess up the Nuggets, too. And, of course, it worked, like most everything has worked out so far this year for the Spurs . . .

• Express News' Tim Griffin talks about DeJuan Blair and his rebounding prowess, on one possession! Check it out.

• Who is Martin Iti? Well if you don't know him, the Spurs sure do. In fact they once offered the sever-footer, once considered one of the top centers by ESPN, Southland Sharks player out of the New Zealand Basketball League an offer to workout with them:

Some would call it a fall from grace for a man who five years ago attracted interest from NBA teams and was once ranked behind superstar LeBron James in a list of America's most promising young basketball players.

After Iti's freshman year at college in 2003-04, where he averaged six points and six rebounds a game, the bright lights of the NBA began to dawn.

He contemplated putting his name in the NBA draft and received offers to work out for Miami Heat, the San Antonio Spurs and the Toronto Raptors.

• Spurs' coach Gregg Popovich gives credit where credit is due in the win over the Washington Wizards:

• Speaking about the win over the Wizards, check out what Tony Parker had to say about the win:

(videos by woai.com)

The San Antonio Spurs hold the best record (26-4) in the NBA thanks to great team play, chemistry, and two winning streaks of 12 and 10 games.

However, like they say, all good things comes to an end so let's break down the two winning streaks and see how the numbers looked.

12 game winning streak:

• Averaged 109.1 points per game.
• Held their opponents to 98.8 points per game.
• Average margin of victory was 10.3 points.
• Had one back-to-back game situation and won both games.
• Beat four teams with at or at an above .500 winning percentage.
• Beat eight teams with a below .500 winning percentage.
• Had 15 days off during the winning streak.

10 game winning streak:

• Averaged 107.4 points per game.
• Held their opponents to 97 points per game.
• Average margin of victory was 10.4 points.
• Had two back-to-back game situations and split them (1-1).
• Beat five teams with or at an above .500 winning percentage.
• Beat five teams with a below .500 winning percentage.
• Had 10 days off during the winning streak.

Aside from an favorable schedule during the 12 game winning streak, you can see the Spurs were pretty much the same statistically which is a positive. Sure they dropped off a bit offensively but it was negligible. The other positive thing to take away is their defensive stats got a bit better.

However, in the 10 game winning streak the Spurs were showing signs of slowing down a bit. They were winning by an average of 4.6 points in the last five games.

The loss to the Orlando Magic was likely to happen. They faced a tough Denver Nuggets team the night before then had to travel to Florida to face a solid Magic team. The fatigue, and travel caught up with them. 

It will be interesting to see how the Spurs respond with a rough stretch of games ahead and if these stats will continue. After beating the Washington Wizards, they will face winning teams such as the Los Angeles Lakers, Dallas Mavericks, and Oklahoma City Thunder.