OAKLAND, Calif. - Since he was just a kid watching Larry Bird work his long-distance magic on All-Star Weekend, Spurs guard Roger Mason Jr. always envisioned himself participating in the NBA's annual 3-point shootout one day.
He appears to have gotten his long-held wish. Mason will be invited to participate in this year's competition in Phoenix, while fellow Spurs guard Tony Parker will take part in the skills challenge event.
The NBA is expected to officially announce the field for those and other All-Star events later this week. Multiple league sources confirmed Sunday that invitations for Mason and Parker are forthcoming.
In addition, the Spurs also are expected to field an entry to defend their title in the shooting stars event. The trio of Tim Duncan, David Robinson and Silver Stars guard Becky Hammon won the competition last year.
The 3-point shootout, skills challenge and shooting stars event are part of the Saturday night festivities, held the night before the Feb. 15 All-Star Game. Duncan and Parker will represent the Spurs for the West squad in the game.
Dunk does Ginobili good: Manu Ginobili drove for a dunk in the third quarter of the Spurs' victory over New Orleans on Saturday night, finishing with a flourish and drawing a foul on the Hornets' Hilton Armstrong.
As a sellout crowd at the AT&T Center cheered, so did a little voice inside Ginobili.
For one of the few times this season since undergoing ankle surgery in September, Ginobili felt like himself.
"I felt really good, for the first time this season," Ginobili said. "It took me like 35 games, but it was nice to go hard at the rim and get a dunk."
The dunk wasn't an isolated incident for Ginobili, who finished with 22 points.
Preceded by a 30-point night in a victory at Phoenix, Ginobili's latest encouraging outing was an important signpost on what has been an at-times bumpy road in his recovery. After averaging a career-best 19.5 points per game a year ago, Ginobili's average is down to 15.3 per game this season.
Lineup roulette: Spurs coach Gregg Popovich started Kurt Thomas at center in place of Matt Bonner against the Hornets, altering the starting five for the first time in 26 games.
It was a modification so last-minute that even the arena public-address announcer didn't get the memo - he announced Bonner as a starter.
The move was made for defensive purposes, with Thomas being a better match for David West, the Hornets' All-Star forward.
"I thought Kurt did a real good job," Popovich said. "He's a good defender, and we wanted to start him out on that matchup."
