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Surging Spurs host slumping Nets before tough road trip

Jan 23, 2009 - 11:20 AM New Jersey (19-23) at San Antonio (28-13) 8:30 p.m. EST

SAN ANTONIO (Ticker) -- The San Antonio Spurs have been red-hot this month and hope they can carry that momentum on the road for a trio of tough games.

Before the Spurs depart from the AT&T Center, they'll try to earn their fourth straight win on Friday against the New Jersey Nets.

San Antonio has won eight of its last 10 games, surging into second place in the West behind the Los Angeles Lakers.

Tim Duncan scored 27 points and added 10 rebounds and Manu Ginobili contributed 26 and eight, making all four of his shots from the arc, en route to a 99-81 victory over the Indiana Pacers on Tuesday.

While Duncan and Ginobili may not need to repeat that performance against the Nets, who have lost four straight games and five of six overall, they will certainly need to step up in the following three games, when the Spurs visit the Lakers, seventh-place Utah Jazz and the eighth-place Phoenix Suns.

New Jersey has failed to reach 100 points in any of its last four games, including a 102-92 loss to the New Orleans Hornets on Wednesday.

Nets point guard Devin Harris struggled one game after he was pulled in the second half of a lopsided loss to Boston on Saturday. Upset by the benching and apparently affected by bruised ribs, Harris hit just 1-of-11 from the field against New Orleans and finished with six points.