Sporting News reports on Saturday that Tony Parker will be riding the pine for a bit due to an injury. The superstar sprained his left ankle in last night’s 130-102 win over the Sacramento Kings.
According to the Bleacher Report, tests Saturday morning revealed a Grade 2 sprain and he is expected to miss four weeks of play.
The San Antonio Spurs will certainly be missing their point guard as he is definitely their go-to-guy. Going into Friday night’s game, Parker was the Spurs’ leading scorer and also leads the team with assists.
This injury may be painful in more ways than one. San Antonio has the NBA’s best record at the moment but will they be able to hold on to it without Parker on the court?
Obviously there is great concern about how long Parker will be out of commission. Spurs coach Gregg Popovich stated, "He'll be out a while; it's a good one."
Popovich added, "He's been a stalwart for us. He's having an All-Star season. As I've said, he's playing better than any other point guard in the league consistently through the year. We will miss him."
According to Sporting News, Parker finished out the month of February averaging 26.1 points and 8.3 assists per game. He was shooting an impressive 54 percent from the field.
The injury occurred with a handful of minutes left in the third period when Parker rolled his ankle on his way down from a layup. Isaiah Thomas was defending on the play which forced Parker to twist his body in midair and thus led to an unfortunate and awkward landing. He had to be helped off the court and did not return.
With more than a period left, Tony Parker left the game with 13 points and seven assists.
This has certainly been a hard-knock season for the Spurs as they have had more than their share of injuries. It’s a good thing their bench runs deep.
Stephen Jackson missed fourteen games due to a broken finger, tendinitis kept Leonard on the sidelines for eighteen games and Ginobili has missed twelve games for various reasons this season.
Losing Tony Parker has got to feel like a hit below the belt though. Spurs All-Star forward Tim Duncan shared, “Obviously a huge loss, he's been our leader all year long. We've played with all different kinds of people throughout this year. We're going to rally. Pop is going to change some lineups.”
He added, "We're obviously not going to replace him. But we're going to have to change the way we play for a little while."
"We'll have to play better," Ginobili said. "We're going to have to move the ball really well, because what he creates off the dribble, nobody will be able to do it."
Timing is everything. The Spurs have got to be thanking their lucky stars that their latest loss occurred in March and not in May.
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