After a 121-96 blowout win Wednesday night, the San Antonio Spurs evened the series, but they lost their starting point guard Tony Parker in what appeared to be a severe leg injury. Parker did not return to the game and had to be carried off by teammates.
The injury occurred around the nine-minute mark of the fourth quarter when Parker drove the lane and missed a floater. After the miss, he fell to the ground without contact, immediately grabbed his leg in pain, and did not get up for quite some time. The Spurs were forced to use a timeout to get Parker off the floor.
Initial tests revealed a leg injury for Parker, with no specifications.
Spurs expect a season-ending injury
However, Parker is expected to undergo an MRI Thursday morning to determine the severity of the injury. Unfortunately, the Spurs are already expecting season-ending surgery for the All-Star point guard, and the MRI results will soon confirm it.
According to Sam Amick of USA TODAY Sports, the MRI is expected to reveal a partial or full tear of the quadriceps tendon, which will require surgery regardless.
Sources: San Antonio's Tony Parker is still undergoing an MRI on left leg now, but team expects Parker will need season-ending surgery.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@WojVerticalNBA) May 4, 2017
Spurs playoff run without Tony Parker
In Parker’s absence, Patty Mills is expected to earn the starting point guard position.
The 28-year-old Australian is fully capable of handling a starting role, as he averaged 12.1 points, 5.9 assists, and 2.3 rebounds in eight starts this season. However, without Parker, Kawhi Leonard must ball handle and playmake more than the usual.
Also, rookie Dejounte Murray will earn more minutes off the bench now. Manu Ginobili and Pau Gasol will need to play at a higher level as well to fill Parker’s void.
It’s going to take more of a team effort from the Spurs, but it could be done. They are well-coached, play top-notch defense, and have plenty of depth.
Tony Parker’s post-season resurgence
The unfortunate part about all this is that Parker was actually playing really well during the playoffs. He was averaging nearly 16 points, 3.1 assists, and 2.5 rebounds on 52.6 percent shooting from the field and 57.9 percent shooting from three-point distance.
After what was a roller-coaster season for him, he regained his confidence during the post-season, but it will unfortunately be short lived.
Looking ahead for the Spurs
The Spurs must move on and continue to focus on the series at hand against the Houston Rockets. They recovered from a blowout loss in Game 1 and thrashed the Rockets in Game 2. Now they must retake home-court advantage in Game 3 on Friday at the Toyota Center.
