San Antonio will resume its annual Rodeo Road Trip on Saturday in New Jersey by welcoming back Manu Ginobili to the lineup.
Ginobili, who has missed more than a month with a broken left hand, will likely come off the bench and play limited minutes according to coach Gregg Popovich as the Spurs shoot for a 17th win in their last 18 meetings with the Nets.
San Antonio improved to 2-0 on its trip Wednesday by handling a tough Philadelphia team, 100-90. Tony Parker was brilliant in that one, exploding for 37 points to go along with eight assists.
"Tony Parker was amazing tonight to say the least," Sixers coach Doug Collins said after watching the French star torch his team. "He had that ball on a string, and we were just trying to do our best to keep him corralled, make him shoot jump shots and we just never could get him under control."
Tim Duncan added a double-double with 16 points and 11 rebounds for San Antonio but it was Popovich's bench that really shined. Gary Neal made all four of his three-pointers and netted 18 points, while the emerging Tiago Splitter tortured Philadelphia inside, shooting 7-for-10 for 15 points.
"Our history here is really bad so it's a huge win for us, Parker said. "We are going in the right direction. The young guys are improving. They are playing better on the road. They are playing with confidence."
Before their current trip ends the Spurs will have visited nine different cities and traveled nearly 8,000 miles. After tonight's contest, San Antonio will square off with the Pistons, Raptors, Clippers, Jazz, Blazers and Nuggets on the nine-game trek.
After starting the season with nine of 13 games at the AT&T Center, the Spurs are currently in the midst of playing 16 of 21 games on the road. San Antonio, which is on top of the Southwest Division, doesn't return home until opening a seven-game residency versus Chicago on Feb. 29.
The Nets, meanwhile, have dropped five straight, including a home-and-home set to Detroit capped off by a 109-92 blowout loss to the Pistons in Auburn Hills on Friday.
Johan Petro had 16 points in that one for New Jersey, which has lost seven of eight overall and also fell to the Pistons, 99-92, on Wednesday. Jordan Farmar and Deron Williams contributed 14 points apiece on Friday.
"This is bad. This is probably one of our worst [losses] of the season," Williams said. "I think this was just one of those ones where nothing seems to go right."
