NBA - Spurs beat the Grizzlies; Manu Ginobili is back!

After being out for 12 games in this season, Manu Ginobili is back in track and helped the San Antonio Spurs to win the game against the Memphis Grizzlies 94-81. This was the fifth victory of the last six games that they have played so far this season even though the Spurs are still missing Tony Parker. Ginobili played only for 11 minutes but it marked the difference in the game since he scored 12 points.

When Ginobili entered the game there was 5:34 left for the first quarter. He took a quick and scored the first two points giving him the confidence to continue in the game. Then he scored a 3-pointer after two minutes of being playing.

The Grizzlies tried to make a comeback in the third quarter, pulling the game 52-49, but Manu was also a key player to close that quarter helping the Spurs to score 20 points against only 6 of Memphis and closing the quarter 72-55.

As well, George Hill scored 20 points and Roger Mason added 18 to make the Spurs lead the game. Tim Duncan added 14 points, 11 rebounds and four blocks for the team, which made the difference and gave the Spurs the seventh victory of the season.

"I wasn't thinking about a great game on my first one, so I'm happy with what I did," Ginobili told reporters. "I felt pretty good about it. I'm a little bit out of shape game shape, I've been running a lot but the game shape is something that you get when you play and practice a lot."

Ginobilli had an arthroscopic surgery on his ankle back in early September to repair a ligament that he injured in the Olympics with his national team. After recovering, he is back sooner than the team was expecting since the doctors announced that he will be back until late December. He has been practicing lately with the team to see how his ankle reacts with the physical activities and his ankle hasn’t been swallowing and that’s the reason why the doctors decided that he could be back, but not playing a whole game yet.

Manu Ginobili was born in Argentina, and his professional debut in the Argentine basketball league was in 1995 with the Andino Sport Club from La Rioja and the following year he was traded to the Estudiantes de Bahia Blanca. Later on, he spent a couple of seasons in the Italian League with the team Basket Viola Reggio Calabria. In 1999, he entered the NBA draft and was selected by the San Antonio Spurs in the second round, but he didn’t sign with the Spurs in that moment because he decided to go back to Italy and played there for two seasons, this time with the Kinder Bologna. He was named Italian MVP in 2001 and 2002 and played in the Italian All-Star team three times.

Ginobili joined the Spurs in 2002 and his statistics have improved as time passes by. His average right now is of 19.5 points, 4.8 rebounds, 1.5 steals and 4.5 assists per game. He was honored on April 2008 with the NBA’s 2008 Sixth Man Award.

His presence has been definitely notable in the San Antonio Spurs and his return to the game comes as great news for his teammates, franchise and fans.

Audrey Nolan is a top senior copy writer on NBA games and sports action for the sportsbook www.instantactionsports.com/
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