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Suddenly healthy Spurs look to stay hot vs. Rockets

Nov 29, 2008 - 11:24 AM San Antonio (9-6) at Houston (10-6), 8:30pm EST

HOUSTON (Ticker) -- It is happening. The San Antonio Spurs are healthy, they are on a roll and they are starting to round into shape. And it is not even the end of November. So much for their demise.

After seeing Manu Ginobili take the court for the first time all season at the beginning of the week, the Spurs welcomed back Tony Parker on Friday, restoring the trio - along with Tim Duncan, of course - that won a championship just 17 months ago. Now, San Antonio will look to extend its winning streak to five games when it visits the Southwest Division rival Houston Rockets.

Parker had been out since November 7, when he suffered a sprained right ankle in a loss to the Miami Heat. He was the team's leading scorer before going down and put up a modest 15 points in 17 minutes in Friday's 109-98 victory over Memphis.

Ginobili - who underwent ankle surgery and was expected to be out until mid-December - returned early and has averaged 13.7 points in three games while playing limited minutes.

The Spurs, meanwhile, have won seven of eight after a poor start to the 2008-09 campaign.

The Rockets hope that Tracy McGrady can return to the lineup after the All-Star guard missed Wednesday's loss to Indiana with a sore left knee. McGrady underwent minor arthroscopic surgery on the knee this summer.