Spurs point guard Tony Parker, a dark horse MVP candidate, sprained his ankle Friday night in a 130-102 pounding of the Sacramento Kings.
Parker had 13 points and seven assists in the third quarter when he landed awkwardly and twisted his ankle. Gregg Popovich was candid after the game when he discussed Parker's injury, saying ''He'll be out a while; it's a good one. 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.'' Parker was unable to leave the court of his own power and immediately went to the locker room for examination.
Parker is averaging 20.7 points and 7.7 assists a game while shooting 53.5 percent from the field. His PER is 24.40, good for eighth in the league and he boasts a 3.09 assist to turnover ratio. Delving even deeper into Parker's impact on the Spurs elite offense reveals that Parker is averaging 2.7 assists per game that lead to shots directly at the rim, and another 2.6 assists that lead to 3-pointers. Parker is averaging 20 points per game and more than half his assists lead to the most valuable types of shot attempts available.
His teammates realize the effect of having Parker missing. Manu Ginobili told reporters, ''We'll have to play better. We're going to have to move the ball really well, because what he creates off the dribble, nobody will be able do it.''
The Spurs had eight players score in double digits in their 28-point demolition of Sacramento, and Tiago Splitter and Tim Duncan posted double doubles. Ginobili scored nine points and handed out a career-high 15 assists. ''Yeah, it just happened," Ginobili said after the game. "In the first half, it started happening. And in the second half, we were just moving the ball really well. (Sacramento) played zone, they got a little lost and in a game were you're 20 or 30 (points ahead), it's easy to do that. I wasn't really forcing the issue.''
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