Manu Ginobili

The San Antonio Spurs earned a very impressive win over an improving Toronto Raptors team.  The Raptors had six players in double figures headlined by their big three Chris Bosh, Hedo Turkoglu, and Andrea Bargnani.  Usually, if the Raptors can get 32 points and 10 rebounds from Chris Bosh, 20 points from Hedo Trukoglu, and 17 points from Andrea Bargnani; they win.

But Manu Ginobili had other plans.

On paper, it would seem as if the Spurs were at a disadvantage.  They didn’t have Tim Duncan or Tony Parker (both were out with ankle injuries).  No Duncan, No Parker, No Problem.  The fact that the Raptors are allergic to defense also helped in San Antonio’s favor.  Richard Jefferson chipped in with24 points, 7 assists, and 8 boards.  George Hill added 22 points on 8-15 shooting.  Matt Bonner contributed 18 points off the bench and shot 4-8 from three.

BUT MANU WENT BONKERS!

The “Batman” (He smacked a bat out of mid air during a game on Halloween (10/31/09) against the Sacramento Kings)  Manu Ginobili scored 36 points, had 8 assists, and blocked 4 shots off the bench in 32 minutes.  He made 6 threes (he was 6-8 from three for the night), shot 8-15 from the field, and was 14-16 from the free throw line.  I hope Manu is on your fantasy team because that’s what I call a stat stuffer.  He took over the game and led his team to a much needed victory.

Ginobili Smacks bat out of midair.

Manu in action.

Ginobilli had the following to say about the game:

“I think we’re going to score, we just got to play better defense.  We were talking before the season about trying to be the best team in the league defensively, and so far we’re not even close.”

Chris Bosh said the following about the Raptor’s performance:

“You can’t give them any confidence. We did the opposite, we gave them confidence.  We gave them points right off the bat. They scored a lot of points.”

Defense is important to both teams, but neither really played well defensively.  San Antinio won because they hit more threes, shot more free throws, they took care of the rock (only 6 turnovers), had more assists, and they dominated on the boards.  However, the Spurs gave up 124 points (which is very uncharacteristic) and allowed the Raptors to shoot 59.2% from the field and 64.7% from three point land.  But, in the end, there can be only one winner.  The Spurs got the W 131 to 124.

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