In the middle of one of their biggest wins of the season, the San Antonio Spurs suffered a painful loss. In the fourth quarter of what was shaping up to be a blowout victory over the Houston Rockets, Spurs point guard Tony Parker crumbled to the ground, clutching his left leg and eventually had to be carried off the floor. San Antonio ended up winning Game 2 121-96, evening up their series against Houston, but the post-game mood was anything but celebratory.
When asked by Tony Parker’s injury, Spurs head coach Gregg Popovich’s response was characteristically blunt: “It’s not good.” While the Spurs did not yet know the full extent of Parker’s injury they talked as if they were not expecting him back for at least the remainder of the series. “It’s hard to see him limping and hurting now and you kind of know we’re not going to see him any time soon,” said longtime team-mate Manu Ginobili after the game. On Thursday, it was confirmed Parker has a ruptured left quadriceps tendon and will miss the rest of the playoffs.
While Parker is no longer as central to the Spurs’ plans as he was during his peak – there was a stretch not that long ago where he was the undisputed team MVP – he has been a steadying presence. During their first round series against the Memphis Grizzlies, Parker put on a vintage performance, averaging 16.3 points, 3.0 assists and 2.2 rebounds while shooting 53.3% from the floor.
His injury means that San Antonio will have to find a way to replace Parker’s offense and the 25 minutes per game he’s averaged over the course of the season. Popovich will almost certainly promote the capable Patty Mills to start in his absence and give more playing time to Ginobili – although not too much considering he turns 40 in July. It’s also likely that Kawhi Leonard, who scored 34 points and went 13-for-16 in Wednesday’s game will have to take on yet even more of his team’s offensive burden. The Spurs have enough depth that losing their starting point guard isn’t as debilitating as it would be for other teams, but a back-up plan is a back-up plan for a reason.
The timing is also not particularly ideal for the Spurs, who are in the middle of a competitive series that very well could go the distance. The Rockets shocked the league by blowing the Spurs out 126-99 in Game 1 in AT&T Center, a place where San Antonio are normally nearly invulnerable. Even in Game 2’s blowout, the Rockets actually managed to play the Spurs close for the first three quarters despite Leonard and company holding James Harden to 3-for-17 shooting from the floor. It wasn’t until an early fourth quarter run that the game devolved into a lopsided laugher.
It’s strange to say this about a series which started with back-to-back blowouts, but Rockets/Spurs could be the most evenly matched series of the conference semi-finals, one which absolutely could be swayed by the loss of their veteran starting point guard (just ask the Chicago Bulls how that can go). The most encouraging thing for San Antonio on Wednesday, beyond avoiding falling into a 0-2 hole, was that their lead over the Rockets actually expanded after Parker left the game. It was the exact opposite of the Spurs’ uncharacteristic total meltdown in the second half of Game 1 and a positive reminder that their system can still overwhelm opponents even without the help of their longest tenured players.
But with Parker gone for the rest of the playoffs, we should look at the worst case scenario: we might have just seen the end of a Hall of Fame career. With Tim Duncan already retired and Ginobili likely to bow out this offseason (although it feels like we’ve said that every year) there’s been plenty of conversation about when Parker, whose skills have begun to decline, will join his former team-mates. For the most part, Parker has rejected the idea, even saying that he retired from international play in order to extend his NBA career “I want to end my Spurs career on a high note,” he said back in December, “I want to play five more years.”
As optimistic as Parker sounded at the time, age and injuries have a way of disrupting even the most determined athlete’s long term plans. If his injury ends up being serious enough to affect his career, there’s a chance that our final image of Parker will be of him clutching his leg in agony with the rest of his team on the other side of the court, forced to play without him. Let’s hope not, he deserves a better end than this.
