Spurs' Ginobili out 2 weeks

By: Times-Dispatch Staff | The Associated Press
Published: February 21, 2012

San Antonio Spurs guard Manu Ginobili is expected to miss two weeks with a strained left oblique.

Ginobili was hurt during the second half of San Antonio's 103-100 victory at the Los Angeles Clippers on Saturday.

Ginobili was playing in just his fourth game since missing 22 with a broken left hand.

Forward Tiago Splitter also is expected to miss two weeks with a strained right calf.

Celtics' Rondo suspended 2 games

Boston Celtics point guard Rajon Rondo has been suspended two games without pay by the NBA for throwing a ball at an official during a game.

Stu Jackson, the NBA's executive vice president for basketball operations, announced the suspension Monday, one day after Rondo received two technical fouls and was ejected late in the third quarter of Boston's 96-81 loss at the Detroit Pistons.

Rondo was upset that a foul wasn't called with about 3:00 left in the quarter and tossed the ball at referee Sean Wright. He followed that with a verbal barrage directed at Wright and was ejected from a game for the first time in his professional career.

Rondo missed Monday night's game at Dallas and will miss Wednesday's matchup with Oklahoma City.

Thunder's Durant scores career-best 51

Kevin Durant scored a career-best 51 points for the top performance in the NBA this season, and Russell Westbrook added 40 in Oklahoma City Thunder's 124-118 win against the Denver Nuggets on Sunday night.

Durant hit a 3-pointer and drove for a dunk to tie the game with 4.4 seconds left in regulation, then used the extra period to chalk up the first 50-point game of the two-time scoring champion's career.

Oden has another microfracture surgery

Portland says that a procedure to clear debris out of center Greg Oden's left knee resulted in another microfracture surgery.

Oden had the surgery on Monday. Although it was originally expected to be an arthroscopic procedure to clean out the 7-footer's knee, the surgeon determined there was additional damage.

The former No. 1 pick in the 2007 NBA draft has now had two microfracture surgeries on his left knee, and one on his right. He has also undergone surgery for a fractured left kneecap.