Manu Ginobili replaced All-Star Tim Duncan in order to help San Antonio Spurs to edge the Dallas Mavericks 97-95, as they are undefeated at home until now.

As Duncan suffered a bruised right knee and ankle sprain on Sunday in the game against Portland, Ginobili had his first start of the season and scored a season-high 37 points, despite his bruised left index finger on his shooting hand. The Argentinean player has hit  12-of-24 field goals, including two three- pointers and also had six assists.

"I woke up feeling pretty good," Ginobili said. "After I saw I could dribble and shoot pretty well, I had no doubt in my mind that I was going to try and help the guys."

Tony Parker added 23 points for the defending league champion Spurs (16-3).

Josh Howard scored 22 points and Jason Terry finished with 20 points for Dallas (12-7), in their team first defeat out of its last five games.

"They're still a good team without Duncan," Terry said. "They have good solid veterans, and give credit to Ginobili. He was the hot man, and everything we threw at him he took advantage of."

The Dallas Mavericks were close to a tie, as they managed to go from 97-89 with 1:13 left until the end of the game, to 97-95 at the buzz. However, reigning league MVP Dirk Nowitzki, who had 15 points and nine rebounds, failed to score a potential winning three- pointer.