After a much deserved break, Arianné is back for the latest Spanish edition of the Spurscast. In this episode, Arianne recaps the recent San Antonio victories for the Spanish speaking Spurs fans.

Remember, Project Spurs was the first San Antonio Spurs blog to have a Spurs podcast and the first to have a Spanish podcast for Spanish-speaking Spurs fans.

Note: Show recorded Tuesday, December 21, 2010

Arianne regresa con el Spurscast en Español mas reciente con los juegos de pretemporada de los Spurs.

Y recuerden que Project Spurs fue la primera página de Internet en tener un podcast de Los San Antonio Spurs y la primera en tener un podcast en español para los fanáticos de habla hispana.

Programa grabado Martes, 21 de diciembre 2010

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The San Antonio Spurs (25-3) will face the Orlando Magic tonight in Orlando coming off a tough-fought win over the Denver Nuggets last night.

The last time these two teams met, the Spurs came out on the winning end due to hot shooting from the three-point line and the Magic committing 16 turnovers.

The Spurs will also face a new look Magic with their new players Gilbert Arenas, Hedo Turkoglu and Jason Richardson via a trade with the Phoenix Suns.

To discuss tonight's match-up, I spoke with fellow Bloguin NBA blogger Phil from Orlando Magic Daily which is by far the best Magic blog on the Internet.

In this Q&A we discuss the Magic's recent trade, why the Magic have been underachieving, keys to the game and more. To read the Q&A I did for Orlando Magic Daily click HERE.

Jeff: I know by now this sounds like a broken record but the trade to acquire Arenas, Turkoglu, and Richardson. Likes, dislikes and how does this help or hurt the Magic's season?

Phil: It appeared something was wrong, so a move had to be made. What that was is very difficult to put a finger on. Orlando's big weakness coming into the season was a lack of players who could create off the dribble. Vince Carter is not the player he once was and he could no longer carry the offense the way this Magic team needed him to.

I like the offensive potential this move brings. Turkoglu has proven he can be successful in Orlando's system. Jason Richardson is a guy who will fit in nicely. And Gilbert Arenas can still have big games here and there.

The potential is there. It is just a question of how this team will come together in the course of the season and whether they will play defense. This team is built on its defense and it has let them down these last few weeks. These guys have to be as committed to the defensive end as they are to the offensive end.

Coming into the new season the Magic were expected to be better than their 16-12 record. What seems to be the issue?

It is tough to put a finger on. The last time the Magic and Spurs met, the Magic were rolling ad we generally still felt good about this team. Orlando has just been knocked off its rhythm. About half the team got sick with a weird stomach virus. The team went out West and still has not figured itself out. Something happened on that trip that convinced this team a change needed to be made.

And so, we are starting from scratch. The issue is this team does not have the same defensive will it has had for the last few years. I was always amazed how the team was able to win games it had no business winning. That has not happened this year.

It seems like it is missing that one energy guy who can push others to play at a higher level. It is really hard to put a finger exactly on what is wrong. But you also get the feeling that if this team can get a victory and some confidence, things will correct themselves.
 
Alright let's discuss the game tonight. The last time these two teams met, the Magic committed 16 turnovers and allowed the Spurs to hit wide-open three-point shots (12-for-19). Obviously you cannot do this when playing the Spurs but what are other keys to the game for the Magic to get the win?

Yeah, it seems like a long time since that game happened. Really Orlando has to play together and fight in this one. There really is not much more this team can do. This will be the new guys' third game together so perhaps a little more progress should be expected and a little more cohesion. But mistakes are still going to be made. It is going to be important that this team just fight its way through it and forget mistakes. Orlando is still keeping things simple.

But more specifically, the Magic cannot allow Dwight Howard to get into foul trouble. This team, with the trade of Marcin Gortat, is really thin up front. Howard has to be in the game and he cannot get sucked into foul trouble. I would think San Antonio is going to attack him a lot.
 
If you are the Magic coach, you might be thinking, "OK we got the advantage in the paint but the guard combo of Parker and Ginobili will be a handful." What should the Magic do to limit this duo?

Again, Van Gundy is going to be preaching play defense as a team. Keep the man in front of you as best as you can and be there to help. A lot of the details of this defense are going to be missing, so these Spurs are going to be able to do some damage depending on how good Dwight Howard feels defensively (he has dialed some of his aggression back to limit his fouls, in my opinion). There may not be a lot Orlando can do just because the guys are not on the same page defensively yet.
 
There is a gaping hole at backup center for the Magic with the loss of Gortat. The Spurs have DeJuan Blair, Antonio McDyess, Tiago Splitter (if he gets time on the court), Matt Bonner and of course Tim Duncan. Do Dwight Howard and Brandan Bass shoulder more of the load tonight against the Spurs or do the Magic rely on something else to combat this glaring difference in size?

It depends if Ryan Anderson and Malik Allen are healthy enough to go. But yeah, it is all going to be on Dwight and Brandon to do the heavy lifting down low. They have their work cut out for them. Not sure if the Magic will be able to bring in another big man before Thursday.
 
Who wins the game tonight?

I am not optimistic about this stretch right now (we get Boston on Christmas). A team like the Spurs might be a little too good for the Magic to take on at this point in time. That is unless the team gets really hot and starts making jumpers. That is entirely possible. But my feeling is the struggles continue for a while and the Spurs get the win.

For the second time in a week, Manu Ginobili finished off the Denver Nuggets. This time he got some timely help from Gary Neal.

Ginobili and Neal each scored 22 points and buried back-to-back 3-pointers late in the fourth quarter, as the San Antonio Spurs (25-3) beat the Nuggets 109-103 who played without Carmelo Anthony because of the death of his sister.

The Spurs extended their winning streak to 10 games.

Now, it's time to look at some of the numbers that stood out in this latest Spurs victory.

86.2 - The Nuggets made their free throws hitting 25-29 (86.2%) from the foul line. The Spurs on the other hand just made 15-24 (62.5%) from the free throw line.

50 - The Spurs hit their outside shots connecting 14-28 (50%) from behind the arc, including, 5-7 (71.4%) from Gary Neal. The Nuggets only made 8-25 (32%) from the 3-point line.

46 - Denver dominated the inside game, outscoring the Spurs 46-36 on inside points.

29 - The Spurs outscored the Nuggets 29-14 in the fourth quarter as Denver made just two field goals in the final five minutes of the game.

22 - Ginobili and Neal led the Spurs with 22 points a piece. J.R. Smith and Ty Lawson also had 22 points each for the Nuggets.  

20 - Recovering from a wrist injury, Chauncey Billups started at point guard and added 20 points for the Nuggets.

16 - Richard Jefferson scored 16 points on 7-12 shooting from the field in 36 minutes of action. Smith scored 16 of his 22 points in the third quarter alone.

13 - Nene had 13 points for the Nuggets while Matt Bonner scored 13 points off the Spurs' bench. Both teams committed 13 turnovers for the game.

10 - Gary Neal scored 10 of his 22 points in the fourth quarter and had his second consecutive 20-point game of the season.

9 - Tim Duncan had nine points and nine boards in 27 minutes for San Antonio. 

8 - The Spurs are the eight team in NBA history to start a season 25-3.

2 - Chris Quinn scored two points, dished out three assists, and had one rebound and one steal in 12 minutes of playing time. DeJuan Blair had two points and seven boards for the Spurs.

0 - Antonio McDyess did not attempt a single field goal and went scoreless in three minutes.

Rookie Watch: Gary Neal had 22 points, three assists and two rebounds in 26 minutes of action. Tiago Splitter had 12 points, nine rebounds, one assists and a steal in his most meaningful game of the season.

What's Next? The Spurs will visit the new-look Orlando Magic at the Amway Center for their second night of a back-to-back.


Follow Robby Lim on Twitter @RobbyLim21

According to ESPN, Nuggets forward Carmelo Anthony will not play tonight.

Anthony will miss Denver's game Wednesday night in San Antonio following a death in his family.

The team announced the news Wednesday morning. Nuggets general manager Masai Ujiri said in a release that the organization supports Anthony "during this difficult time for him and his family."

With Anthony out, look for J.R. Smith to possibly start at small forward.

Christmas is fast approaching and some of you may not have picked up a gift for someone on your list. Well if they are a die-hard San Antonio Spurs fan why not give them the gift of tickets to either tonight's game against the Denver Nuggets or upcoming games against the Orlando Magic and the Washington Wizards.

Tonight's game against the Nuggets should be a great one. The last time these two teams met, the Nuggets were a depleted team. Chauncey Billups, Kenyon Martin and Chris Andersen were out with injuries, and it still took a Manu Ginobili basket and him picking up the offensive-foul on Carmelo Anthony to seal the win for the Spurs. Now that Denver is fully healthy, it might be an all out battle tonight in the AT&T Center.

For tickets to tonight's game click HERE. For tomorrow's game against Orlando click HERE and for Sunday's home-game versus Washington click HERE.Remember to follow @ProjectSpursTiq on Twitter for deals and updates and to enter next month's Spurs tickets giveaway.

Milwaukee Bucks' center Andrew Bogut weighed in on which team he feels is the most impressive and let's just say he scored some major points with San Antonio Spurs' fans:

The Bucks are a good team to ask. They’ve played Utah, Denver, Orlando, Miami, Dallas and San Antonio this month. Keyon Dooling still gives the nod to the Lakers because of their depth and their status as reigning champions, but Andrew Bogut says the San Antonio Spurs are the most impressive team they’ve faced so far.

“[The Spurs] have a unique system, where they really spread the scoring load,” Bogut said. “Then at the end of the game they’ve got Ginobili. I think they’re playing real well. That was tough for us. ... They’re going to be a tough matchup in the playoffs.”  (source ESPN.com)

Bogut would know first-hand about the Spurs being a tough team. In the last meeting between the Spurs and the Bucks it took a Ginoibili last-second shot to seal the victory for San Antonio.

Now will someone please tell Dooling he might want to reconsider his pick.

SPURS:

• Congratulations to Roxanne Alvarez (aka @simmonslover on Twitter) for winning two free tickets courtesy of tiqiq.com and Project Spurs to tomorrow's San Antonio Spurs-Denver Nuggets game. However, do not fret as we will be giving out another pair of free tickets to a Spurs home game next month. All you have to do it follow @projectspurstiq on Twitter to enter. Easy huh?

• The San Antonio Spurs will face a healthier Denver Nuggets team as Kenyon Martin, Chauncey Billups and Chris Andersen will return to action. This should be an exciting game seeing how the last time these two team faced off it took Manu Ginobili drawing the offensive foul after nailing the winning shot to secure the victory for the Spurs.

• The Spurs beat the Phoenix Suns last night, albeit a depleted Suns team with their recent trade to acquire Marcin Gortat, Vince Carter and Mikael Pietrus from the Orlando Magic, and as one scout pointed out, the moves makes them just like the Spurs:

“Well, it looks like they (Suns) are trying to change the culture,” the scout said. “I suppose they look at this as making them tougher. But I think that’s kind of interesting. The (San Antonio) Spurs are pretty tough, right?”

We’ll answer that one in the affirmative.

“The Suns swept the Spurs a few months ago,” the scout pointed out. “Swept them. Does that means the Spurs weren’t tough last spring, but are now? Has that much changed in terms of what people say is toughness?

As they say, imitation is the best form of flattery.

• How efficient are the Spurs? Well according to the Huffington Post the Miami Heat are but the Spurs could lead the NBA in efficiency:

Who are the least efficiently run teams in basketball (i.e. the teams who spend the most wastefully above the luxury tax threshold)?

The analysis relied on efficiency differential, since this projects future success (or failure) better than current won-loss records. Still one might be interested to know... if we project wins from current won-loss records, then the San Antonio Spurs -- with a cost per win of $0.931 million -- lead the NBA.

• Express News' Tim Griffin hands out his Spurs first-third report card on the team. How did they do? Find out HERE.

• Spurs' gaurd Gary Neal had a fantastic game against the Phoenix Suns scoring 22 points off the bench in a 118-110 victory. Here is what Spurs' coach Gregg Popovich had to say about Neal's performance:

(video courtesy of woai.com)

Hoy estaremos repasando los últimos juegos, que digo juegos, victorias!…de la semana de los Spurs.

Listos? Ahí les va! Definitivamente hemos tenido un victorioso comienzo ya que los Spurs llevan ganados 24 juegos y tan solo 3 derrotas.  Es bastante impresionante el hecho de que los Spurs sea el equipo que mas victorias lleva en lo que va del año.  Eso muestra la preparación y sobre todo el empeño que han estado poniendo. Realmente veo altas posibilidades de que salgamos campeones esta temporada.

En fin amigos, comenzamos con el juego de la semana pasada, donde se enfrentaron los Spurs contra los Golden State Warriors el miércoles 8 de Diciembre. Este juego realmente, en mi opinión fue lo que se esperaba. Los Spurs mostraron ser los campeones que siempre han sido anotando 29 puntos en el primer cuarto mientras los Warriors tan solo 19. Lamentablemente para los Warriors, ellos jamas lograron recuperarse ya que finalmente fueron derrotados 111-94, fue una diferencia bastante grande de 17 puntos. Para este juego los 3 mayores contribuyentes de canastas por parte de los Spurs fue Tony Parker con 19, George Hill con 17, Dejuan Blair con 15. En asistencias los mayores contribuidores fueron Tony Parker con 9 y Manu Ginobili con 8. Y la buena racha no termina ahí porque como testigos de los últimos juegos sabemos que los Spurs vienen enérgicos esta temporada.

El jueves de la semana pasada los Spurs jugaron contra los Atlanta Hawks, de nuevo, para los Spurs, otro juego facilito, ya que igual que con los Warriors en el primer cuarto llevaron la delantera, justo a medio tiempo están empatados, pero agarrense por que los Spurs vienen bravos. Aun que los Hawks pusieron de su parte para intentar derrotar a los Spurs, su empeño fue en vano, finalmente una vez mas los Spurs salen victoriosos, ganando 108 a 92, por una diferencia de 16 puntos.

Y el siguiente domingo de ese juego, que fue el 12 de diciembre, los Spurs salieron ganando nuevamente en su confrontación contra los Trail Blazers de Portland. Este juego comenzó tempranito, durante la tarde en el AT&T center. Para este juego quien anoto mas canastas fue George Hill ya que contribuyo con un impresionante puntuaje de 22 puntos. Quien le siguió el paso fue Manu Ginobili con 18 puntos, y Tony Parker con 14 puntos y 6 asistencias. Terminando el juego a favor de los Spurs 78-95.

Quien nos dejo con la piel erizada y llenos de emoción justo a final de juego fue Manu Ginobili el pasado miércoles 15 de diciembre en el juego contra los Milwaukee Bucks. El juego se mantuvo bastante emocionante, ya que aunque los Spurs llevaron la delantera durante la mayor parte del juego, los Milwaukee Bucks mostraban ser persistentes en intentar ganarnos. Finalmente a unos segundos del final del juego quedamos empatados y fue durante el ultimo segundo de juego que mete Ginobili una canasta así logrando desempatar el puntuaje entre ambos equipos y quedando los Spurs como campeones 90-92.

Y tambien se enfrentaron los Spurs con los Nuggets de Denver el pasado jueves, 16 diciembre. Aunque el juego no fue en tierras San Antonianas, esto no fue obstáculo para que los Spurs derrotaran a los Nuggets. Claramente se vio durante el primer cuarto que los Nuggets venían determinados a ganarnos, ya que durante el primer cuarto nos llevaron la delantera en puntuaje de 37-28. Pero finalmente los Spurs demostraron estar demasiado preparados ganando este emocionante juego 113-112. Nuestro mas grande contribuidor para este juego fue Tim Duncan con un grande total de 28 puntos contribuidos. Tony Parker le siguió con 24 puntos y un total de 9 asistencias y Manu Ginobili con 16 puntos.

Finalmente los Spurs una vez mas salen victoriosos contra los Grizzlies de Memphis ganando 112 a 106 en tiempo extra y contra los Suns de Phoenix, ganando 118 a 110. Tony Parker le siguió con 37 puntos contra Memphis y gano el premio jugador de la semana en la NBA. Felicidades Tony! Les deseamos muchísima suerte a los Spurs de San Antonio, aun que parece ser que no la necesitan con lo preparados que demuestran estar. También de parte de la familia de Projects Spurs les deseamos una Feliz Navidad y un Prospero Año Nuevo!