Spurs make a statement in opener

October 29, 2:13 AMSan Antonio Spurs ExaminerMichael Chartier

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Richard Jefferson and Chris Paul have words after a foul stopped play to attend to Tony Parker

AP Photo/Darren Abate

SAN ANTONIO - Forgive the San Antonio Spurs if they didn’t realize the regular season started last night. In their 113-96 season opening win over New Orleans at the AT&T Center, no starter logged a single minute in the fourth quarter.

Of course, they didn’t have to with a bench that poured in 61 points and a lead that never fell below 15 in the second half.

In the victory, San Antonio showed off their newfound depth and put the rest of the NBA on notice. The Spurs balanced attack was led by the quietest 17 points of Tony Parker’s career and iron man Matt Bonner, who after one game leads the team in minutes played and three pointers.

The only moment of concern in this one was after Parker’s third quarter drive to the hoop left him crumpled up and laying in the fetal position on the AT&T Center floor for nearly a minute. With 2:24 remaining in the period, Parker got caught up with Hilton Armstrong under the basket after completing a layup. Despite the glazed look in his eyes, initial reports said he had the wind knocked out of him.

That finished Parker’s night but the All-Star seemed fine doing ESPN’s postgame interview.

Tim Duncan rarely touched the ball in this one except when he was corralling his 12 rebounds. Not to be outdone, rookie DeJuan Blair continued to show he’s NBA ready posting a double-double in his debut. Blair connected on 7-of-10 shots posting 14 points, 11 rebounds, and three assists in 22 plus minutes.

Heralded acquisition, Richard Jefferson, went 1-of-7 from the field scoring just five points. But the career 17.7 points per game scorer contributed with four rebounds and five assists.

The Hornets, who managed to finish shooting 50 percent from the field, were lead by Chris Paul’s 26 points and nine assists. Emeka Okafor, who New Orleans acquired for Tyson Chandler in the offseason, posted 18 points and 10 rebounds in his Hornets’ debut.

San Antonio travels to Chicago to face last year’s NBA Rookie of the Year Derrick Rose and the Bulls today at 7 p.m. in a nationally televised contest on TNT.

Manu-ficent

Maybe the most important addition for San Antonio will be the healthy return of Manu Ginobili. The three-time NBA Champion missed 38 games last year, including the final six and the entire playoffs. Ginobili declared himself one hundred percent healthy earlier this summer and looked it in his return.

Manu knocked down a pair of three pointers en route to 16 points in 23 minutes of play. He was his usual aggressive self and sealed the game after the Hornets cut a 23 point lead down to 15 with 5:34 left in regulation.

First, Ginobili split Chris Paul and Emeka Okafor with a non-traditional crossover dribble on the right wing before finishing around the center for a layup on the opposite side of the rim. Moments later, after throwing an errant pass, Ginobili hustled back on defense recording a steal on a post feed before taking it coast-to-coast with a behind the back vanishing act that left Peja Stojakovic helpless to push the lead back to 19 with 4:11 remaining.

Duty done, Manu sat down to join a starting unit that didn’t play in the fourth quarter. Four points the other way and Tim and Tony are dusting off the warm-ups.

Numbers Game

30-0     San Antonio's bench points vs. New Orleans' bench in the first half

61-52   San Antonio’s bench points vs. San Antonio's starters

5           The number of Hornets' offensive rebounds

9           The number of Spurs' players who scored at least 9 points

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Despite the summer makeover that has San Antonio stocked with length, youth, and athleticism, the Spurs recorded just one throw-down on the night. It came with 3:11 remaining in regulation and it came from 14-year pro and 36-year-old center Theo Ratliff.