Often the forgotten member of Miami’s ”Big Three,” Chris Bosh stepped up with LeBron James and Dwyane Wade sitting out to get the Heat a big win and move closer to securing home-court advantage throughout the NBA playoffs.

Bosh scored 23 points, including the winning 3-pointer with 1.9 seconds remaining, and the Heat beat San Antonio 88-86 on Sunday night with James, Wade and Mario Chalmers watching from the locker room as they sat out with injuries.

”We are the defending champs no matter who we put out there,” Bosh said. ”We are still the Miami Heat. We believe in ourselves. Each one of these guys is a professional. We played bigger roles in other cities but we came together and accepted lesser roles to win a championship here. We can still tap into that.”

Ray Allen added 14 points, Norris Cole had 13 and Mike Miller 12 for Miami (58-15), which swept the season series with San Antonio (55-18). By earning the head-to-head tiebreaker with San Antonio, the Heat have a four-game cushion with nine remaining for the league’s best record…

Miami beat San Antonio 105-100 on Nov. 29 when the Spurs opted to rest Tim Duncan, Tony Parker, Manu Ginobili and Danny Green.

All but Ginobili (strained right hamstring) played Sunday.

Duncan had 17 points and 12 rebounds and Kawhi Leonard added 17 points and 11 rebounds for the Spurs, who had a seven-game home winning streak snapped. Green and Parker added 12 points apiece and Stephen Jackson had 11.

– Reported by the Associated Press

Spurs coach Gregg Popovich puts Manu Ginobili’s timetable to return from a strained right hamstring at weeks rather than days, a significant setback to the team’s pre-playoff preparation.

“It’s a huge blow for us,” he said, “because he’s the guy that allows our second team to do what they’ve been doing all year long.

“It’s a huge loss for that group, and in game situations it’s a tough one because he’s one of two guys, he and Tony (Parker), are the creators who make things happen for everybody else on the court. It’s an unfortunate loss at this point of the season.”

Popovich said it is unknown if Ginobili’s injury will stretch into the postseason, which begins on April 20. Excluding Sunday’s home game against Miami, the Spurs have nine games remaining in the regular season, with the last coming on April 17 against Minnesota.

– Reported by Dan McCarney of the San Antonio Express-News (Blog)

San Antonio Spurs All-Star Tim Duncan is a man of little emotion and even fewer words.

The Los Angeles Clippers brought out a demonstrative side rarely seen from the 16-year veteran and it helped lead to their downfall.

Duncan had a season-high 34 points, including a game-winning three-point play with 2.2 seconds left, and San Antonio outlasted Los Angeles 104-102 on Friday night.

Sparked by a pair of hard fouls in the second quarter, Duncan was 12 for 19 from field and also had 11 rebounds in leading San Antonio (55-17) to its seventh straight home victory.

”There was a stretch where they put the whistle away,” Duncan said. ”It gave me a little energy to kind of play a little harder. I got some shots to go early and it just kind of snowballed from there.”

Tony Parker added 24 points and eight assists, and Tiago Splitter had 14 points for San Antonio.

The Spurs extended their lead in the Western Conference to 2 1/2 games over Oklahoma City, which lost 101-93 to Minnesota.

Blake Griffin scored 18 points, Jamal Crawford added 16 and Chris Paul had 14 for the Clippers (49-24), who remain fourth in the West. Caron Butler added 11 points and Willie Green had 10.

– Reported by the Associated Press

San Antonio coach Gregg Popovich treats the stretch run of the regular season like a series of final exams for his team.

The Spurs passed their latest - just barely.

Tim Duncan had 23 points, 14 rebounds and five blocks and the San Antonio Spurs escaped with a 100-99 win over Denver on Wednesday night when Nuggets veteran guard Andre Miller missed a short jumper at the buzzer.

”The schedule that we have is something that should be embraced and considered a great opportunity,” Popovich said, ”because it’s like taking a final exam every day or most days. To get ready for the playoffs, understanding the physicality, aggressiveness and competitiveness that’s necessary night after night in the playoffs.”

Denver dished out a heavy dose of that playoff intensity.

Danny Green added 20 points and Tony Parker had 18 points and 11 assists for the Spurs, who remained 1 1/2 games ahead of Oklahoma City in the race for the top spot in the Western Conference. Kawhi Leonard had 11 points and Tiago Splitter 10.

JaVale McGee had 21 points and 11 rebounds, Wilson Chandler scored 15 points and Miller 14 for the Nuggets, whose reserves outscored their Spurs counterparts 59-18. Kenneth Faried and Danilo Gallinari added 12 points apiece and Andre Igoudala had 10.

– Reported by Raul Dominguez of the Associated Press

The Houston Rockets got contributions from several players Sunday night against the Spurs.

In closing time, they turned to James Harden again.

Harden sank an off-balance jumper with 4.5 seconds left to lift the Rockets to a 96-95 victory over San Antonio. Harden scored 18 of his 29 points in the second half as the Rockets rallied from three down in the final minute to snap a four-game losing streak to their state rivals.

Houston has won three in a row and inched closer to clinching a postseason berth.

”Tonight was a great environment, great crowd,” Harden said. ”Hopefully, we can continue to build off this lead. It’s momentum.”

Tony Parker scored 23 points, including 10 in a row to put San Antonio ahead with just under 2 minutes left. The Spurs led 95-94 when Harden got the ball from Omer Asik, drove to the free throw line and hit the winning jumper between Tim Duncan and Kawhi Leonard…

Chandler Parsons scored 20 points and Asik grabbed 14 rebounds for the Rockets. Backup point guard Patrick Beverley had 11 points and blocked Danny Green’s layup attempt with 1:22 left to keep Houston within one.

Duncan had 17 points and seven rebounds for the Spurs, who shot 42 percent (33 of 78), gave away 18 turnovers and were held below 100 points for just the third time in 12 games.

– Reported by Chris Duncan of the Associated Press

Not long before tipoff of what would become his team’s 29th consecutive loss in San Antonio, Golden State coach Mark Jackson was asked his chief concern in facing a Spurs team minus All-Star point guard Tony Parker.

Jackson responded with an answer straight out of 1997.

“Big guy by the name of Duncan,” Jackson said. “I heard he’s pretty good.”

Duncan turns 37 next month.

His line in Wednesday’s 104-93 victory over the Warriors — 25 points, 13 rebounds, six assists, four blocks — could have been lifted from the first half of his 16th season, which in turn could have been lifted from his MVP heyday.

Over his past three games, Duncan is averaging 27.7 points, 14.7 rebounds, 3.3 blocks and shooting 64.3 percent (36 of 56), a sure sign he has regained his All-Star form from before his Feb. 2 knee injury.

– Reported by Jeff McDonald of the San Antonio Express-News (Blog)

The San Antonio Spurs just keep winning, especially when they face the Golden State Warriors at home.

Tim Duncan had 25 points, 13 rebounds, six assists and four blocks, and San Antonio beat Golden State 104-93 on Wednesday night for its 29th straight home win against the Warriors.

Golden State has not won in San Antonio since Feb. 14, 1997, the season before Duncan was selected No. 1 overall by the Spurs.

”He’s a Hall of Fame player, an all-time great,” Warriors coach Marc Jackson said. ”He certainly had a big game tonight.”

Tiago Splitter added 17 points and Manu Ginobili had 16 points and seven assists for San Antonio (52-16), which has won three straight and seven of nine overall. Nando De Colo had 10 points.

The Spurs are right behind Miami (53-14) for the league’s best record.

Stephen Curry had 24 points for Golden State (39-31), which remains sixth in the West. Jarrett Jack had 14 points, and David Lee added 10 points and 12 rebounds.

Golden State closed to 92-88 when Curry went 1 for 2 at the line, but Duncan threw in a running hook and a 16-foot jumper to give San Antonio an eight-point lead with 2:37 remaining.

– Reported by the Associated Press

All-Star point guard Tony Parker participated in his first full practice since suffering a Grade 2 left ankle sprain almost three weeks ago, Spurs head coach Gregg Popovich said Tuesday.

Popovich ruled Parker out for Wednesday’s home game against Golden State, but said again that the Frenchman will likely beat the initial one-month timeline given after his injury against Sacramento on March 1. The Spurs follow the Warriors with Utah at home on Friday, Houston on the road on Sunday and Denver at home next Wednesday.

“I think it will be sooner than four weeks, but it won’t be tomorrow,” Popovich said. “He did everything today. It’s very encouraging.”

The Spurs are 5-2 without Parker, a likely MVP candidate in the midst of arguably his best season.

– Reported by Dan McCarney of the San Antonio Express-News (Blog)

The San Antonio Spurs today re-assigned center Aron Baynes and guard Nando De Colo to the Austin Toros, San Antonio’s NBA Development League affiliate.  The assignments are the record 156th and 157th of the 2012-13 NBA and NBA D-League seasons, while the pair are two of the record 56 NBA players to be assigned to the NBA D-League this season.

Baynes (6-10, 260, Washington State) has played in 11 games for the Spurs, averaging 2.2 points, 1.4 rebounds and 6.5 minutes.  Signed by San Antonio on Jan. 23, Baynes rejoins the Toros following two previous assignments, when he averaged 17.3 points, 9.0 rebounds and 26.7 minutes.

De Colo (6-5, 200, Saint Catherine, France) has appeared in 57 games for the Spurs this season, averaging 3.4 points, 1.7 assists, 1.6 rebounds and 11.5 minutes.  He returns to the Toros averaging 14.5 points, 7.0 rebounds, 5.5 assists and 36.5 minutes in two games during two previous assignments.

Baynes and De Colo are expected to join the Toros today and be available when the team hosts the Los Angeles D-Fenders in Austin tonight at 8:30 p.m. ET.

There hasn’t been much to cheer about at Target Center while the Minnesota Timberwolves endure another long, painful march toward another draft lottery.

Wolves fans do have Ricky Rubio, though. And that was enough on Tuesday night.

Rubio had his first career triple-double with 21 points, 13 rebounds and 12 assists, leading the Timberwolves to a 107-83 victory over the San Antonio Spurs…

Rubio made 9 of 17 shots and grabbed his 10th board with 9:14 to play in the game, earning a standing ovation from the long-suffering Wolves fans. Alexey Shved broke out of a big slump to score 16 points and Barea had 17 for the Wolves, who hit 12 3-pointers…

Stephen Jackson had 14 points and Danny Green 10 for the Spurs, who left Tim Duncan and Kawhi Leonard at home to rest after they throttled Oklahoma City on Monday night. San Antonio turned the ball over 17 times, leading to 30 points for Minnesota, and shot just 35.4 percent…

”We’ve got to get things together and go back to who we were,” said Manu Ginobili, who had seven points on 2-for-10 shooting. ”Because it’s happening too often now.” …

Duncan and Leonard stayed back in San Antonio for the second half of a back-to-back with what the team called sore left knees. But coach Gregg Popovich has been known to rest players, especially older veterans like Duncan on back-to-backs. Point guard Tony Parker is also out for another few weeks with a sprained left ankle, so the Spurs started Jackson, Matt Bonner and Cory Joseph in their places.

– Reported by Jon Krawczynski of the Associated Press

RELATED: Watch video of Rubio’s triple-double. 

Bad news for the 46-14 San Antonio Spurs. They’ll be without their floor general until early April.

Spurs guard Tony Parker underwent an MRI examination this morning in San Antonio. The MRI confirmed that Parker has a Grade 2 left ankle sprain. He is expected to be out for approximately four weeks. The injury occurred in the third quarter of last night’s Spurs-Kings game.

Additionally, Spurs forward Boris Diaw (low back strain) is out for tomorrow’s game vs. Detroit. Guard Gary Neal (tightness, left calf) and forward Stephen Jackson (sprained right ankle) are listed as doubtful.

The San Antonio Spurs today announced that they have recalled guard Cory Joseph from the Austin Toros of the NBA Development League. The team also announced that it has assigned center Aron Baynes to the Toros.

Joseph has appeared in 26 games in five stints with the Toros this season, averaging a team-high 19.4 points, 5.5 assists, 4.8 rebounds and 1.92 steals in 38.5 minutes, while shooting .458 (175-382) from the field, .479 (35-73) from three-point range and .804 (119-148) from the free throw line. The University of Texas product ranks fourth in the D-League in both points and steals while ranking second in three-point field goal percentage.

Joseph has appeared in 10 games this season for the Spurs, averaging 1.9 points, 1.3 assists and 1.0 rebounds in 6.8 minutes.

This will mark Baynes’ second stint with the Toros this season. Assigned to Austin on Feb. 1, the Australian native played in two games and averaged 18.0 points and 9.0 rebounds in 27.5 minutes.

Baynes has appeared in eight games with the Spurs this season, averaging 1.9 points and 1.6 rebounds in 5.6 minutes.

After a 25-day, nine-game road trip, the San Antonio Spurs were glad to be back in their own building, relaxed and ready to add to their 18-game home winning streak.

Maybe too relaxed.

Jermaine O’Neal had 22 points and 13 rebounds, Wesley Johnson hit a 3-pointer at the end of regulation to force overtime and the Phoenix Suns rallied to upend San Antonio 105-101, stunning a raucous crowd that had begun celebrating midway through the third quarter only to exit in silence.

Tony Parker had 22 points to lead San Antonio, which had not lost at home since Nov. 19 against the Los Angeles Clippers. Tim Duncan had 19 points and 11 rebounds, and DeJuan Blair and Kawhi Leonard added 15 points apiece.

Luis Scola added 15 points and Goran Dragic had 13 points and 13 assists for Phoenix, which snapped a six-game losing streak against the Spurs…

Trailing by 11 points with 11:29 left in the game, the Suns rallied behind O’Neal. The veteran center had 13 points and five rebounds as Phoenix (20-39) outscored San Antonio 33-23 in the fourth…

Dragic and reigning MVP LeBron James of Miami are the only players leading their team in points, assists, steals and free throw attempts.

– Reported by the Associated Press

Spurs point guard Tony Parker has been ruled out of Sunday’s rodeo road trip finale with a right triceps contusion, the team reported this afternoon.

The All-Star apparently suffered the injury at some point in the Spurs’ 107-101 overtime loss at Golden State on Friday night. Parker scored 18 points in the defeat, his career-best 48th consecutive game in double figures but also his lowest-scoring game since putting up 17 in a Jan. 16 victory over Memphis.

Parker was the Western Conference’s Player of the Month for January, in which he averaged 21.9 points and 7.9 assists and shot 56.3 percent. He has built a solid case to repeat in February, averaging 26.6 points, 8.4 assists and shooting 55.2 percent this month.

– Reported by Jeff McDonald of the San Antonio Express-News

Jarrett Jack had 30 points and 10 rebounds, David Lee added 25 points and 22 boards, and the Golden State Warriors rallied past the San Antonio Spurs 107-101 in overtime Friday night to snap a 16-game losing streak in the series.

Stephen Curry finished with 18 points and six assists to carry the short-sleeve-wearing Warriors from 13 points down in the fourth quarter. Golden State, also playing without center Andrew Bogut hadn’t won against San Antonio since another overtime game at home—all the way back on Jan. 7, 2008.

Danny Green scored 20 points and Tim Duncan had 19 points and 18 rebounds for the NBA-leading Spurs, who had won five straight and 16 of 17 overall. San Antonio fell to 6-2 on its rodeo trip, which ends Sunday at Phoenix.

The Spurs seemed to take control between the third and fourth quarters, breaking away from a tie game with 13 straight points behind Manu Ginobili and Tony Parker Both finished with 18 points, and both disappeared late…

Spurs swingman Stephen Jackson dressed but did not play for undisclosed reasons. He played against the Clippers a night earlier, his first game back since his wife had a miscarriage. Jackson had left the team in Chicago on Feb. 11. … The Warriors are also planning to wear the sleeved jerseys for home games against Houston on March 8 and Chicago on March 15. … The Spurs have won 28 in a row against the Warriors in San Antonio.

– Reported by Antonio Gonzalez of the Associated Press

Kawhi Leonard made a 3-pointer with 2.9 seconds remaining to give the San Antonio Spurs a 96-95 win over the Cleveland Cavaliers on Wednesday night.

Leonard’s clutch basket came after Dion Waiters’ jump shot with 9.5 seconds remaining put Cleveland ahead 95-93.

The Spurs, who have won 14 of 15, had stars Tim Duncan, Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili on the floor together for the first time since Jan. 13.

Kyrie Irving, who was held to a season-low six points, missed a desperation runner from the top of the key as time expired.

Tony Parker led the Spurs with 24 points while Gary Neal scored 15.

Waiters scored 20 points to lead Cleveland, which has dropped three straight after winning a season-high three in a row…

Irving, who rolled his left ankle Monday against Minnesota, was 2 of 15 from the field with seven assists.

Tyler Zeller, who was scoreless in 25 minutes Monday, had 16 points, including 12 in the first half, for Cleveland.

– Reported by the Associated Press

Tony Parker has been so outstanding lately that Spurs coach Gregg Popovich called it ”beyond an All-Star level.”

Does that mean All-NBA? Maybe even MVP?

”I think he should be in every conversation for any award that’s going to be given,” Popovich said. ”I don’t think that is really tough to see. I mean, there’s a group of guys, but he should be in that group as one of the guys that’s playing the best in the league.”

Parker had 29 points and 11 assists in another brilliant performance without his two sidekicks, and San Antonio dominated the second half to beat the Brooklyn Nets 111-86 on Sunday night.

Two nights after a loss in Detroit ended their 11-game winning streak, the Spurs got back on track quickly behind Parker, who fell short of his third straight 30-point game only because he was so good that he sat out the final minutes of the rout.

Danny Green added 14 points and Tiago Splitter had 13 for the Spurs, who were again without Tim Duncan and Manu Ginobili because of injuries as they beat the Nets for the fifth straight time and 19th in the last 20 meetings…

Joe Johnson scored 19 points and Brook Lopez had 18 for the Nets, who were outscored 60-29 in the second half and lost for the sixth time in nine games. Deron Williams finished with 15 points, but was a distant No. 2 when it came to the best point guards on the floor…

Duncan missed his third straight game due to a sore left knee, while Ginobili was out for the fourth consecutive game with tightness in his left hamstring. Popovich said he would be cautious with the two stars, knowing he needs them later this season.

– Reported by Brian Mahoney of the Associated Press

Danny Green entered his second season as a Spurs starter with the goal of establishing more consistency in his shooting stroke. But even now, well past the halfway mark, Green still has no idea what to expect on a nightly basis.

Such was the case Wednesday in frigid Minneapolis, when he torched the Target Center nets for a career-high eight 3-pointers on 12 attempts en route to 28 points.

“It came out of nowhere,” Green told the Express-News’ Jeff McDonald. “Sometimes it happens that way.”

And sometimes it doesn’t. For just as often as Green will have stretches where he seemingly can’t miss, he’ll struggle through slumps where even the most wide-open of looks carom off the rim.

– Reported by Dan McCarney of the San Antonio Express-News (Blog)

The San Antonio Spurs today announced that they have recalled center Aron Baynes from the Austin Toros of the NBA Development League.

Baynes appeared in two games for the Toros after being assigned to Austin on Feb. 1. He averaged 18.0 points and 9.0 rebounds in 27.5 minutes in his first D-League assignment.

Signed by the Spurs on January 23, Baynes has appeared in two games for the Silver and Black, averaging 3.5 points and 4.5 rebounds in 9.5 minutes.

Miami Heat forward LeBron James and San Antonio Spurs guard Tony Parker today were named the NBA Eastern and Western Conference Players of the Month, respectively, for games played in January.

James captured his third straight Kia NBA Eastern Conference Player of the Month award by ranking second in the conference in scoring (27.0 ppg), third in field goal percentage (.555), fourth in steals (1.92 spg), fifth in assists (7.2 apg), and 16th in rebounds (8.1 rpg). In January, James scored at least 20 points in 12 games, at least 25 points in seven games and 30 or more points in five games.  He became the youngest player in NBA history to reach 20,000 career points when he achieved the feat at Golden State on Jan.16.

Parker helped the Spurs to a 12-3 record in January, tied with the Denver Nuggets for the best mark in the league.  He ranked third in the conference in assists (7.9 apg), sixth in scoring (21.9 ppg) and seventh in field goal percentage (.563), scoring at least 20 points in 12 games , including two 30-plus point games.  He notched five point-assist double-doubles during the month, including dishing out a season-high 13 assists in a 106-102 win over the New Orleans Hornets on Jan. 23.

Other nominees for NBA Eastern and Western Conference Players of the Month were Brooklyn’s Brook Lopez, Chicago’s Carlos Boozer and Joakim Noah, Cleveland’s Kyrie Irving, Denver’s Danilo Gallinari, Houston’s James Harden, New York’s Carmelo Anthony, Oklahoma City’s Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook, Portland’s LaMarcus Aldridge and Washington’s Emeka Okafor.