By the end of the game, the Raptors were reminded that the Spurs have a few other very good players — namely Manu Ginobili and Richard Jefferson. Ginobili had 36 points, eight assists, four rebounds and four blocks as the Spurs utilized a strong fourth quarter to post a 131-124 victory.

Jefferson, who was acquired via trade from the Milwaukee Bucks in the offseason, had 24 points, eight rebounds and seven assists. George Hill and Matt Bonner also chipped in with 22 points and 18 points, respectively.

For the Raptors, it was a case of the defense simply not doing enough. They allowed the Spurs to score more than 30 points in each quarters, including 38 in the decisive final stanza. On offense, Toronto was led by Chris Bosh’s 32 points. Hedo Turkoglu had 20 points for the Raptors, while Andrea Bargnani had 17.

With the win, the Spurs are now 3-3. The Raptors fell to 3-4 with the loss.

Gregg Popovich has to be happy with the Spurs victory (Image: Zuma Press)

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Spurs top Raptors without Duncan and Parker

Who do you think will win it all? Do the Spurs have a shot with the addition of Richard Jefferson? Will KG and the Celtics win in Boston? Will this be LeBron’s year?

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Who Will Win the NBA Championship?

The San Antonio home crowd gave Ginobili a rousing round of applause. Even a few members of the Kings couldn’t stop themselves from clapping for Ginobili.

The Spurs ended up beating the Kings 113-94. Ginobili finished the game with 13 points, three assists, one rebound, one steal and one batted bat.

However, it wasn’t all fun and games for the Argentine guard. The day after the bat incident, Ginobili had to get rabies shots. Although it is uncertain whether the bat had rabies, Ginobili got the rabies shots as a precautionary measure.

“When you can’t dunk anymore,” joked Ginobili, “you’ve got to find some way to make it to the news.”

Here is the Manu Ginobili bat video:

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Ginobili Knocks Out Bat, Gets Rabies Shots

5. San Antonio Spurs
In their first game of the season, the Spurs looked dominant against the Hornets. They tripped up in their second game but San Antonio should be good this season.

4. Denver Nuggets
The Nuggets won both of their games in impressive fashion. First they beat the Jazz at home and then went on the road and defeated the Blazers. The Nuggets look like they are for real.

3. Orlando Magic
After going undefeated in the preseason, the Magic extended their good play by winning the first game of the 2009-10 NBA season. Orlando has a real chance to win more than 60 games this season.

2. Boston Celtics
The season couldn’t have started much better for Boston. After going on the road to beat the Cavs, the Celtics then obliterated the Bobcats.

1. Los Angeles Lakers
The Lakers got their championship rings from their work last year and then won their season opener. That’s enough to keep the Lakers on top of the heap.

Kobe Bryant and the Lakers are still the best of the best (Image: Zuma Press)

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NBA Power Rankings – October Edition

The strained muscle is located near his rib cage on the left side. However, the exact diagnosis isn’t known at the moment.

“I don’t think I got hit or anything,” Wade told the Miami Herald. “But you never know. You just want to make sure you don’t want to make it worse, not knowing what it is.”

Without Wade in the lineup, the Heat lost to the Spurs by a final score of 95-93. The Spurs won thanks to a monster effort from their second round pick DeJuan Blair. Blair finished the game with 28 points, four rebounds and four assists in 26 minutes. The Heat were led by Daequan Cook’s 20 points.

The Heat play again on Wednesday against the Oklahoma City Thunder. Keep an eye open to see if Wade will be able to bounce back from his rib injury.

Dwyane Wade - Miami Heat (Image: Zuma Press)

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Dwyane Wade Injury Update – Ribs

Even though Blair was a second round pick in the 2009 NBA Draft, he’s widely regarded as the steal of the draft. It took all of one game for Blair to prove that there might be something to that talk.

Said Blair: “I did what Coach Pop asked of me and that was to rebound. Everything else came after that.”

Blair played his college basketball at Pittsburgh and was the nation’s best rebounder on a per-minute basis. Despite being only about 6-foot-6, he has a wide, strong body that allows him to create space. If he can give the Spurs another bigman option outside of Tim Duncan and the newly acquired Antonio McDyess, the Spurs will be thrilled by their second round pick.

DeJuan Blair - San Antonio Spurs (Image: Zuma Press)

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DeJuan Blair Dominates in Debut

Last year, Bogans played for both the Orlando Magic and the Milwaukee Bucks. With Orlando, Bogans started 15 of 36 games and averaged 5.3 points and 3.1 rebounds in 21.9 minutes per game. With Milwaukee, Bogans averaged 6.0 points and 3.2 rebounds in 16.7 minutes per game.

While he’s not much of an offensively, as evident by his 39.4% lifetime field goal percentage, the 6-foot-5, 215-pound Bogans is known as a strong, rugged defender who isn’t afraid to get his hands dirty.

Bogans reportedly signed a fully guaranteed one-year contract worth a little more than $1 million. With the Spurs, Bogans will likely backup Richard Jefferson at small forward. He’ll compete for minutes with other swingmen including Manu Ginobili, Roger Mason, Jr. and Michael Finley.

Keith Bogans - San Antonio Spurs (Image: Zuma Press)

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Keith Bogans Signs with the Spurs

The good news for Jefferson and the Spurs is the fact that the injury is believed to be minor. The team will take another look at his thumb next week to give a definite return date. With training camp two weeks away, he may have to miss the first week of training camp. However, there’s a chance he’ll be ready for the beginning of the camp.

When Bruce Bowen recently retired, Jefferson’s role on the Spurs grew even more. Without Bowen around to defend, Jefferson’s defense is going to be key to the Spurs this season. As long as he’s healthy, he’s destined to play a lot of minutes for San Antonio.

In the last two seasons, Jefferson played all 164 games. He averaged 19.6 points, 4.6 rebounds and 2.4 assists last year with the Milwaukee Bucks.

Richard Jefferson - San Antonio Spurs (Image: Zuma Press)

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Richard Jefferson Dislocates his Thumb

1. Los Angeles Lakers
The reigning NBA champions are still the best in the league. As long as they stay healthy, Kobe Bryant and the Lakers will be extremely difficult to beat.

2. Cleveland Cavaliers
Although they lost to the Magic last year in the playoffs, in LeBron James the Cavs have the best player in the world. Add Shaquille O’Neal and a few other quality free agents and Cleveland has to be the favorite in the East.

3. Orlando Magic
The Magic made it to the Finals last year and they very well could be better right now. As long as Vince Carter fits in smoothly, the Magic will once again be dangerous.

4. Boston Celtics
Although the Big Three is getting up their in age, the Celtics very well could have another run left in their gas tank. However, for that to happen, Kevin Garnett will need to be healthy.

5. San Antonio Spurs
In the West, the Spurs jumped back near to the top of the conference due to a number of quality offseason moves — namely their trade for Richard Jefferson.

Tim Duncan - San Antonio Spurs (Image: Zuma Press)

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NBA Power Rankings 2010 – September Edition

From 2003 to 2008, Bowen was named to the All-Defensive first team all five seasons. The three previous seasons saw him named to the All-Defensive second team. Bowen also finished second in the NBA Defensive Player of the Year Award multiple times.

Though the now 38-year-old small forward wasn’t know for his offense, he was an accomplished three-point shooter who seemed to always knock down momentum-changing shots. For his career, he shot 39.3% from beyond the three-point line to go along with a scoring average of 6.1 points.

The Spurs will undoubtedly miss Bowen’s defensive play, the team moved on to a younger generation this offseason. Richard Jefferson was brought in from the Milwaukee Bucks to start at small forward. Add in a healthy Manu Ginobili and there weren’t many minutes available at the swingman spots.

Oh and that sigh of relief you heard are exhales from the countless scorers who Bowen bottled up over the years. They are glad to see him ride off into the sunset.

Bruce Bowen Retires - San Antonio Spurs (Image: Zuma Press)

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Bruce Bowen Retires from the NBA