Ginobili's 36 carries Spurs without Parker, Duncan
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With Tim Duncan and Tony Parker out, the San Antonio Spurs needed scoring. They did better against Toronto than just keep up.
Manu Ginobili scored 36 points without Parker and Duncan in the lineup, and the Spurs beat the Raptors 131-124 on Monday night in a shootout despite San Antonio's two leading scorers sitting out with sore ankles.
Ginobili hit four 3-pointers in the fourth but after the Spurs were less impressed with their offense than disappointed in the dent to their defensive reputation.
"I think we're going to score, we just got to play better defense," Ginobili said. "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 had 32 points and nine rebounds for Toronto but his third 30-point game of the season wasn't enough after another soft defensive game for the Raptors.
Hedo Turkoglu scored 20 points and Andrea Bargnani had 17 points for Toronto, which gave up more than 125 points for the third time this season. Though off to their best offensive start in team history, the Raptors are also among the worst defensive teams in the NBA.
"You can't give them any confidence. We did the opposite, we gave them confidence," Bosh said. "We gave them points right off the bat. They scored a lot of points."
Richard Jefferson scored half his 24 points in the fourth quarter and George Hill added 22 for the Spurs, who reignited their offense after scoring 84 in a loss at Portland on Friday - and lost their two biggest stars in the process.
Duncan hurt his left ankle against the Trail Blazers after playing a season-high 35 minutes and scoring 14 points. He finished the game and coach Gregg Popovich said he was unsure when the injury occured.
MRI tests revealed no structural damage. Parker was also hurt against Portland after rolling his ankle in the second quarter and did not return to that game.
Neither injuries are considered serious, and both players are listed as day-to-day.
Ironically, the Spurs have kept a close eye on minutes this season in the hope of lessening the wear-and-tear and keeping players healthy down the stretch.
Entering Monday's game, the Spurs were the only team in the league without a player averaging at least 30 minutes a game. Duncan is averaging 29 minutes and Parker 26.
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