A suddenly struggling San Antonio team hopes to get back on
track Monday without star guard Tony Parker as they return to the Alamo City
to face the Toronto Raptors.
The Spurs dropped their second straight game on Friday when Brandon Roy
tallied a game-high 24 points, and Greg Oden held his own against Tim Duncan,
as Portland led wire-to-wire in a 96-84 victory over San Antonio at the Rose
Garden.
Richard Jefferson paced San Antonio with 19 points, while Manu Ginobili added
17. Duncan logged 14 points and eight boards for the Spurs, who were without
Parker for the second half due to a sprained left ankle.
"It took us 24 minutes to start competing," Ginobili said. "We can't allow
ourselves to make those mistakes. We start too soft and we're always behind
the curve."
Parker, a three-time All-Star, injured the same ankle he hurt nearly a year
ago to the day but only expects to miss about a week this time. Last year's
injury took about three weeks to heal.
The Raptors, meanwhile, fell to 1-1 on a three-game road trip in Dallas on
Saturday. Dirk Nowitzki led all scorers with 29 points in that one, as the
Mavericks cruised past Toronto, 129-101.
Dallas native Chris Bosh posted his usual double-double, going for 26 points
and 12 rebounds for the Raptors, who have split their first six games of the
season. Andrea Bargnani posted 22 points, while Jose Calderon ended with 13
and seven assists in defeat.
"I think everybody could've put out more effort," Toronto guard Jarrett Jack
said. "I don't know if it was fatigue, it was our first back-to-back ball
game. That could have been part of it."
Toronto has lost in eight of its past 10 trips to San Antonio.
©2009 Sports Network. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
