It was the kind of game expected between the San Antonio Spurs and the Phoenix Suns -- a down-the-wire finish. With a big game from Richard Jefferson, the Spurs (3-1) came out with a 112-110 victory over the slumping Suns (1-3) and make it two-in-a-row on the road.

The Spurs hit some big shots down the stretch to win this game. Now, let's check some of the stats on how the Spurs got this one.

54.5 - The Spurs shot the ball well, making 42-77 (54.5%) attempts from the floor, including 11-13 from Tim Duncan.

44.6 - For the second straight game, the Spurs have held their opponents below 50% shooting from the field. The Suns converted 41-92 (44.6%) of their shots for the game.

42.9 - The Spurs missed nine of their first ten 3-point attempts before making their last five. They finished the game converting 6-14 (42.9%) of their shots from behind the arc. The Suns connected on 8-21 (38.1%) from the three point area.

45 - With George Hill out with an injury, the Suns' bench torched the Spurs' reserves 45-26, with Hakim Warrick scoring 19 .However, the Spurs won the rebounding battle, 45-40. With 17 boards coming from Duncan.

25 - Duncan had a great all-around game as he scored 25 points, grabbed 17 rebounds, blocked three shots and dished out two assists. Duncan also became second in scoring in franchise history by surpassing George Gervins' 20,708 point total and is right on the heels of Spurs' legend David Robinson.

23 - The Spurs were sloppy in this game and it nearly cost them. They had 23 turnovers compared to the Suns' 13.

21 - Jason Richardson led the Phoenix Suns with 21 points and 3 rebounds.

6 - Jefferson was 6-6 from the floor in the fourth quarter and made all six free throws for the game, he had a game-high 28 points. The Spurs also held Suns' starting forward Hedo Turkoglu to just 6 points.

4 - Jefferson hit 4 fourth quarter three-pointers including the go-ahead basket with 1:38 remaining in the game. DeJuan Blair also has 4 points and seven rebounds for the game.

Rookie Watch: Tiago Splitter looked more comfortable on the floor on his second game, he had 7 points and 3 rebounds in 15 minutes of action. James Anderson is steady off the bench, he had 6 points and 3 assists, with two of those resulting into a Jefferson three-pointer in the final period. Gary Neal only played 7 minutes but had two points and a steal.

What's Next? The Spurs will try to extend their winning streak to three when they face the Houston Rockets in San Antonio on Saturday.

Official press release:

SAN ANTONIO, (Nov. 3, 2010) - Spurs guard George Hill will not play tonight at Phoenix. Hill is suffering from muscle spasms in his right trapezius after being fouled by Craig Smith in the second quarter of the Spurs 97-88 win over the L.A. Clippers on Nov. 1. Smith received a flagrant foul 2 and was subsequently ejected from the game.

Hill is “feeling better” but the San Antonio Spurs, to no one’s surprise, have decided to err on the side of caution. Jeff McDonald reports Hill was thinking as if it would be a game-time decision, but the Spurs nipped that in the bud just moments later – no need to risk anything lingering for the fourth game of the season.

What can’t help but linger are the images seared into the mind of this Spurs fan from the last time the Suns were the opponent. San Antonio looked old, beaten down and out of gas, as the Phoenix Suns ran pick-and-roll after pick-and-roll to the success of 4-0.

Nash and Dragic broke containment time after time and Hill was taken advantage of it seemed just as often. After having what was a break-out series against the Mavericks, Hill had almost as equally a disappointing series against the Suns – his redemption and-or ability to put Spurs’ fans minds at ease after an off-season of improvement will haveto wait for another day; though his second-half defensive performance against Chris Paul in the Spurs’ 90-99 loss the Hornets gave some reason for optimism.

What will be on display is if the Spurs have made any strides with regards to their frontcourt against the Suns small-ball attack. Because if Nash and Dragic weren’t the first image seared into your mind as a Spurs fan, all of the switching and 3-point shots or jumpers that followed certainly were – Duncan’s deterioration in mobility allowed him to be taken advantage of more than at maybe anytime in his stellar career (See: Hill, Grant). It should be interesting to see if the Spurs can take advantage of the Suns’ penchant for spreading the court with smaller players and if they can match up when it’s mandatory they go small; can the Spurs buy some time with Simmons at the 4?

An early-season outing and not too important in the grand scheme of things, but tonight’s game should provide for decent gauge of the newcomers and their ability to help the cause and address last year’s shortcomings – with Splitter, Anderson and Neal, two of the biggest areas of concern (pick-and-roll defense and 3-point shooting) are at least looking as if they’ve an opportunity for solid improvement.

It was the take-down talked about by San Antonio Spurs fans -- Los Angeles Clippers' Craig Smith hard foul on Spurs' guard George Hill of the second quarter in the Spurs win over the Clippers this past Monday.

Smith was ejected and assessed a Flagrant-2 foul while Hill sat out the game with a bruised back and a bout of whiplash. He is now questionable for tonight's game against the Phoenix Suns.

However, Smith will attempt to appeal the flagrant- foul:

Just going to go out on a limb but with Smith grabbing Hill mid-air around the face/neck area, pulling him down to the court which sent Hill into a camerman and then slapping hands with fans as he exited out off the floor probably won't be in his favor.

It was a dirty foul. Plain and simple. Even Tony Parker called it dirty.

I doubt he will win this appeal.

After suffering a four game sweep at the hands of the Phoenix Suns in last year's playoffs, one area of concern for the San Antonio Spurs was consistent, reliable perimeter shooting.

Enter Gary Neal.

When the Spurs signed him many Spurs fans pondered "Who is this guy?" Some of you might have asked that question during the San Antonio Spurs game against the Los Angeles Clippers. Well, Neal played for Towson in college, went undrafted in 2007 and has spent the last several years playing overseas. He had a productive season in Italy and the Eurocup before coming to San Antonio

Neal had an outstanding 2010 Summer League performance in Las Vegas which earned him a 3-year guaranteed contract with the Spurs starting at $ 525,000. Although he was regarded as one of the top recruits overseas, his rookie debut did not come with any hype. He only played one minute and grabbed one offensive rebound in the Spurs' season opener against the Indiana Pacers.

However, with more playing time, Neal proved to be a dependable player that plays hard on both ends of the floor. Against the New Orleans Hornets, he was part of group that nearly completed a fourth quarter comeback. He scored eight points, had two rebounds and two assists while shooting 50% from the field in the teams' first season lost.

When George Hill was injured against the Clippers, Neal took advantage and provided the Spurs an instant offensive spark off the bench. His final stat-line for the night was 16 points, six rebounds and two assists. He also shot 6-10 (60%) from the field and 4-8 (50%) from behind the arc as he helped the Spurs to victory and overshadowed Tiago Splitter's NBA debut.

It's just three games, but Neal has shown confidence and he proves to be a savvy player too for an unconventional rookie. Let's not forget he has played professionally overseas.

His greatest asset is his willingness to take the open shot. He is definitely a tremendous catch- and-shoot threat from three-point area. If Neal keeps playing this way, the Spurs might have found another "gem" and it could very well make their bench a lot deeper than most people expected.

If the Spurs wanted to address perimeter shooting, seems as if they found the right person.

To know inward is to have the ability to look outward. To know is to acknowledge what you do and do not have or have the knowledge for. It’s having the intellectual curiosity or need to ascertain the requisite resources to enlighten or inform. To know is to have the tried and true, the answer to the question. Knowing is after the fact.

Each year brings its own set of question marks. Some more than others and others easier to define, but question marks nonetheless. They’re questions that can’t be answered, only addressed: “Have we covered all of our bases, has this team the potential to be its own answer?” The key is to give yourself a genuine and legitimate opportunity, not guarantee an outcome.

The San Antonio Spurs managed to capture four championships over a ten-year stretch while giving themselves a genuine and legitimate opportunity to win as many as seven or eight. They had the foundation of David Robinson, the greatness of Tim Duncan, arrivals of stars in Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili and the complimentary “glue” surrounding them all along the way.

All teams have pieces to create a framework, the Spurs’ fortune came from the foundation for which theirs was built -- the humility and selflessness of Robinson gave way for Duncan’s greatness to thrive undeterred, and it provided the conditions for which a system could be built. The questions could now be defined and the pieces could now be put into their rightful place. The Spurs became tried and true.

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During last night's San Antonio Spurs victory over the Los Angeles Clippers, George Hill was driving for a layup when Clippers' Craig Smith laid a hard foul on Hill in the second quarter which sent Hill hitting the floor hard.

Smith was given a flagrant-2 foul and was ejected from the game. Hill sat out the rest of the game with a spasm in his right trapezius muscle.

Tony Parker weighed in on the hard foul and had this to say:

“It was dirty,” Parker said after the game. “Just a dirty play. It was dangerous. Just no need to do that.” (Express News)

Got to agree with Parker. Indeed it was a bit too much from Smith. As the replay shows he wrapped his hands around Hill's neck and seems to not be going for the ball.  The ejection was appropriate.

In case you missed it, take a look and leave us your thoughts.

The San Antonio Spurs got their first road win of the new season by beating the Los Angeles Clippers 97-88 at the Staples Center.

It was the fourth straight loss for the Clippers (0-4) who played without Baron Davis. The Spurs (2-1) beat the Clippers for the 17th straight time.

Tiago Splitter played in his NBA debut in limited action and George Hill only played six minutes because of a flagrant foul committed on him by Clipper's forward Craig Smith. Smith was subsequently ejected from the game.

The Spurs used their depth to win this one and it's time to check on the numbers that stood out on the teams' recent win.

80 - The Spurs made 12-15 (80%) of their foul shots compared to the Clippers who only converted 8-16 (50%) of their free throws.

46.3 - For the first time in three games, the Spurs held their opponents to less than 50% shooting from the field, holding the Clippers to a 46.3% shooting from the field while making 48.1% of their own shots.

42.9 - After making just 23.1% of their three point attempts against the Hornets, the Spurs converted 9-21 (42.9%) of their three point shots against the Clippers. Including 4-8 (50%) from Gary Neal and 2-3 (66.7%) from James Anderson.

42 - The Clippers dominated the paint outscoring the Spurs 42-36 on inside points with Griffin and Kaman combining for 35.

32 - The Spurs bench outscored the Clipper's bench 32-7. Sixteen coming from Neal and eight from Anderson.

23 - Eric Gordon led all scorers with 23 points, including a career high 11 assists.

19 - Tony Parker led the Spurs with 19 points, 9 assists and 3 steals.

16 - Gary Neal provided the offensive spark off the Spurs' bench. He scored 16 points, grabbed six boards and dished out two assists.

10 - Tiago Splitter played 10 minutes and had 2 points, 2 rebounds and a steal in his NBA debut.

0 - DeJuan Blair went scoreless in 20 minutes of action and took just one field goal attempt, he had 5 rebounds, an assist and a block. Richard Jefferson had zero turnover in 31 minutes of playing time and added 18 points for the Spurs.

What's Next? The Spurs will continue their road trip on Wednesday when they visit the Phoenix Suns at the US Airways Center. The Spurs will be looking for some revenge after being swept by the Suns in the playoffs last season.

via Jeff McDonald - Express-News

Forty months after the Spurs made Splitter the 28th overall pick in the 2007 draft, and after he spent his entire first NBA preseason on the shelf with a strained calf muscle, the 6-foot-11 Brazilian player has been cleared play in tonight’s game against the L.A. Clippers at the Staples Center.

Splitter will come off the bench, and his playing time will be limited, but for now, any minutes are good minutes for Splitter.

“Being off the court all this time, nobody likes it,” Splitter said after shootaround this morning at Santa Monica High School. “It’s passed, and that’s it. I’m going to get better every day, get in shape and be part of the team.”

I suppose one could wax poetic or speak to the excitement and anticipation of seeing Splitter don the Spurs' black and silver for his first official game, and maybe even speak to the fact that his debut being against the Clippers should present a decent opportunity to gauge him as an athlete and player (Kaman, Griffin, Jordan and Co. are about as good as you're going to get), but I'm not. I'm simply going to say:

'Bout time . . .