Last season there's no way the San Antonio Spurs would have ever scored over 130 points without Tim Duncan and Tony Parker, but this isn't last year's Spurs team. Led by Manu Ginobili's 36 points the Spurs topped the Toronto Raptors 131-124.

Manu wasn't the only Spur on fire tonight as Richard Jefferson, George Hill, and Matt Bonner all had 18+. Popovich spoke on Jefferson specifically after the game, stating that he's feel more and more comfortable. His offense was on point tonight, but his main focus so far has been playing sound defense and crashing the boards.

Coach Triano was very disappointed with the way his team rebounded and their defense play as a whole. There's no excuse for giving up 131 points to a team playing without their top two offensive threats. What killed the Raptors were second chance points. They gave up 16 offensive rebounds, which is why they came away with the loss despite shooting 59% from the field and 64% from beyond the arc.

Those percentages give Coach Popovich something to improve on because they're not going to win many ball games if they allow teams to shoot like that. Thankfully for them tonight they were nearly equally as hot (48% from the field, 50% from deep) and they were a +15 on the boards.
 
One guy the Raptors really missed tonight was Reggie Evans; Coach Triano said afterwards he's the only guy on the team with a gift for getting the ball, something they didn't do tonight.

Chris Bosh did not seem to take tonight's loss particularly well. He was visibly frustrated in the locker room afterwards. You can't help but wonder if a night like tonight will stick with him when he becomes an unrestricted free agent. The Raptors are nearly 100% healthy yet tonight they couldn't beat the San Antonio Spurs without Tim Duncan and Tony Parker. There's a long time left in the season and the Raptors hold the potential to improve a lot from within, but CB4 is definitely not content with the way the team is playing right now.

That's going to do it for me from the AT&T Center. Thanks for reading tonight everyone,  I'll be back in town the 19th when the Jazz come to visit.

Tim Duncan's name appearing on the inactive list for tonight's game caught most people by surprise. Duncan originally injured his ankle against the Portland Trail Blazers but he managed to finish the game and didn't mention having any pain afterwards. Since then though the left ankle has swelled up, keeping him out of tonight's contest. Coach Popovich was not concerned about the injury in the least bit.

The Toronto Raptors were not able to practice today because of an issue with the floor at the AT&T Center. Due to moisture on the court they were only able to complete a very limited walkthrough.

Going back to the Spurs, Coach Popovich is putting out a very interesting lineup tonight: George hill, Michael Finley, Keith Bogans, Richard Jefferson, and Theo Ratliff. Obviously starting 2-4 isn't something that scares Coach Popovich. He mentioned that slow starts have been a tradition during his time as a coach, so he's not disappointed with the fact that they're not 5-0 like everyone expected them to be.

Two of the NBA's best rookies will be in action tonight. Starting at the shooting guard position for Toronto is DeMar DeRozan, who hasn't had a breakout performance yet but is fully capable. Coming off the bench for the Spurs will be DeJuan Blair. Expect to see an extended amount of DeJuan tonight with no Tim Duncan available.

Both Hedo Turkoglu and Rasho Nesterovic will have a little extra incentive tonight going against their former team. Coach Popovich joked before the game that Rasho was always his favorite player, although he wasn't Rasho's favorite coach.

Tipoff is just moments away, make sure to check back after the game for postgame thoughts and reactions from both sides!

Luck is not on the side of the San Antonio Spurs right now. The team is on a two game losing skid and tonight they welcome in the Toronto Raptors without Tony Parker and Tim Duncan being available. Both of them are nursing ankle injuries, so the Spurs' reserves will need to come up big. I'll be in San Antonio covering tonight's contest, check back in around 7:25 CST for first post for pregame thoughts from both locker rooms!