San Antonio Spurs

The NBA schedule tonight consists of six games with three first place teams seeing action. Indiana, the top team in the Eastern Conference, is home to Denver. The Pacers, who are coming off a loss yesterday to Orlando, have won six of their last 10 games and are 39-11.

There are two good matchups in the NBA Friday evening. In San Antonio, the Southwest Division and Western Conference leading Spurs are playing host to Portland. The Blazers start the night in first place in the Northwest Division with a record of 29-9 while the Spurs are 31-8. The Blazers have won 12 of the last 16 meetings between the clubs.

A day after subduing Minnesota by 18 points, San Antonio is back in action as part of the seven-game NBA schedule tonight. The Southwest Division-leading Spurs take a road trip to New Orleans, rolling into the Big Easy on a four-game winning streak. The Spurs face the prospect of having to compete without key players Manu Ginobili (jih-NOH'-blee) Tiago Splitter and Danny Green who are all nursing