The San Antonio Spurs captured their sixth consecutive win last Wednesday beating the Denver Nuggets 109–98 without one of their key players in veteran guard Manu Ginóbili who was out due to a hip injury.
According to ESPN, Ginóbili was suffering from a bilateral hip tightness and will likely sit out Friday's game against the New Orleans Pelicans as well before getting re-evaluated on Saturday.
Playing in nine games this 2015–16 season, Ginóbili is averaging 11.7 points, 3.3 rebounds, 3.7 assists, and 1.3 steals in 20.6 minutes of action per outing.
In Ginóbili's absence, leading San Antonio was point guard Tony Parker who had 25 points, two rebounds, and nine assists.
Despite his great scoring output, Parker downplayed his production and spoke about the team's championship goal.
"It doesn't matter (who scores) on this team. It depends what's going on, who's hot, who's got the advantage in matchup. ... It doesn't matter, we just want to win a championship," Parker said, according to the Associated Press.
Another standout performance came from 2014 Finals Most Valuable Player (MVP) Kawhi Leonard who had 20 points, eight rebounds, three assists, two steals, and one block.
Big men Tim Duncan and LaMarcus Aldridge also helped San Antonio with double-double performances.
Duncan had 12 points and 11 rebounds, also having six assists, one steal, and six blocks. Meanwhile, Aldridge recorded 11 points and 12 rebounds, with one assist and two blocks.
The Spurs now hold a 9–2 record following the win over the Nuggets and are second in the Western Conference standings just behind the 13–0 Golden State Warriors.
Meanwhile, the Nuggets were led by reserve center Nikola Jokić who had a double-double performance 23 points and 12 rebounds, also tallying two steals and three blocks.
Denver fell to 6–6 in the West and are eighth in the standings, having the same record with the Memphis Grizzlies who are on the ninth spot.
Up next for the Nuggets will be a four-game home stand which will start today, Friday, against the Phoenix Suns.
