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Tony Parker grabbed his leg after injuring it in Game 2 of the Spurs’ playoff series with the Rockets on Wednesday night.
Soobum Im/USA Today Sports, via Reuters |
One of Coach Gregg Popovich’s top priorities in the final weeks of the regular season was making sure the San Antonio Spurs got the veteran point guard Tony Parker healthy and in rhythm for the playoff push.
Popovich believed that, more than seeding or home-court advantage, the Spurs needed solid performances from Parker to stay competitive with the other heavyweights in the Western Conference playoffs. Now that Parker will miss the rest of the postseason with a leg injury, the Spurs will face a new kind of test.
The Spurs announced on Thursday that Parker will miss the rest of the postseason with a ruptured quadriceps tendon in his left leg, an injury that will most likely require surgery.
Now, the second-seeded Spurs will have to go through the rest of the postseason without their floor leader — just the situation that Popovich said he hoped to avoid.
“If we don’t have him, it’s going to be a lot tougher to hang with teams like Houston and Golden State, the Clippers, that kind of thing,” Popovich said during the regular season.
While Parker, 34, is not the dynamic playmaker he once was, he has been an important part of the team’s identity. After the Spurs were routed in Game 1 of their conference semifinal series against the third-seeded Rockets, Parker scored 18 points in Game 2 to help San Antonio even the series on Wednesday night.
But Parker appeared to land awkwardly while taking a shot in the fourth quarter and fell to the court. He needed to be carried off the floor by teammates, casting a pall over San Antonio’s victory.
Tony Parker Knee Injury | Rockets vs Spurs Game 2 NBA Playoffs | May 3, 2017 Video by NBALife
Popovich said after the game that he was concerned about the possible severity of the injury, and the Spurs’ fears were confirmed after a magnetic resonance imaging examination on Thursday. The team said there was no timetable for Parker’s recovery.
Game 3 is Friday in Houston.
With Parker out, the backup point guard Patty Mills could move into a starting role, and the Spurs would most likely ask Kawhi Leonard to take on more of the ball-handling responsibilities.
Perhaps most disappointing is that Parker had risen to the occasion in the playoffs after an underwhelming regular season.
Parker’s regular season scoring average of 10.1 points per game was his lowest since his rookie year in 2001-02. But he averaged 15.9 points on 53 percent shooting in eight playoff games, including a 27-point performance in Game 6 against Memphis to help the Spurs clinch that series.
Perhaps more important was his veteran presence for a team that was going through its first season without the two-time most valuable player Tim Duncan, who retired last summer.
Even though Parker has always been on the quiet side, Popovich said he had seen him be more vocal this season as the team tried to find itself without Duncan’s steadying influence.
“His leadership has increased exponentially because he always deferred to Timmy,” Popovich said last month.
LOWRY MISSES PRACTICE Toronto point guard Kyle Lowry missed practice on Thursday because of a sprained left ankle and the team said he was questionable to play in Game 3 of the Raptors’ Eastern Conference semifinal series against Cleveland.
The Raptors have lost the first two games of the series, including a 125-103 loss in Game 2. Game 3 will be Friday night in Toronto.
Lowry was hurt when he collided with a teammate in the second half of Game 2 on Wednesday night. The Raptors said more tests were planned to determine the severity of his injury.
Lowry was named an All-Star this year for the third straight season. He has averaged 15.8 points and 5.9 assists per game during this year’s playoffs.
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