With Ginobili's return, the Spurs will certainly lit up their NBA champions' goal. The Argentinean scored 23 points including 12 in the last quarter while Tim Duncan added 17 points and the French Tony Parker scored 26 points on Sunday's victory over Los Angeles Clippers 88-82.
Ginobili was not present in five games due to a left-hand finger twist. For this past game, he played with his hand bandaged to protect his injury.
"I felt well during all the game. Simply I did not do the shots that I'm used to do, but I should be patient and let this happen by itself", said the Argentinean who got five of 12 shots from the perimeter and 12 of 13 from the punishment line.
The Spurs begun the season with a 17-3 record and they had a record of 6-6 in their last 12 games; due to this figures Coach Duncan was happy to have Ginobili return.
"He is our specialist in finishing the games, and a great assistant and gives another dimension to the team, especially in the last minutes", said Duncan. "When the plays don't turn out well, someone has to penetrate the contrary defensive".
Ginobili's two free shots gave the Spurs an advantage of 64-62 before the last quarter; the Argentinean only played 29 minutes.
Other Spurs' Argentinean Fabricio Oberto played 13 minutes in which contributed with two points. The scoreboard was kept tight almost the entire game. The Spurs' great advantage is that they are the current NBA champions and the players feel the need to continue leading the team two a second championship.
In other games, the Denver Nuggets defeated 109-96 the Philadelphia 76ers, with a total of 38 points from Allen Iverson who played against his old team.
The Washington Wizards crushed Seattle 108-86 and the Dallas Mavericks won 101-78 over Minnesota Timberwolves with a total of 30 points from the German Dirk Nowitzki.
