San Antonio Spurs All-Star point guard Tony Parker didn’t play in the second half of last night’s series-clinching victory over the Oklahoma City Thunder. He aggravated an ankle injury he sustained in last week’s Game 4 late in the second quarter. Though Gregg Popovich was non-committal on Parker’s status after the game, sources say that he will likely play in Game 1 of the NBA Finals on Thursday night.
Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports first reported the news.
Parker “should be ready” to play in Game 1, two sources with direct knowledge told Yahoo Sports.
Parker will work to rehabilitate the sprain over the next several days of preparation for the Finals rematch with the Miami Heat.
Parker had been bothered by the ankle since Game 4 of the Western Conference finals and tried to play on it in Game 6 before missing the second half of the clinching victory over the Oklahoma City Thunder.
Ironically, Parker was limited down the stretch of the 2013 Finals after suffering a hamstring injury midway through Game 3. Clearly laboring, he shot just 9-35 from the field and scored 29 points combined in the last two games of the series.
Here’s hoping that Parker is healthy in time for Thursday night’s Game 1; basketball deserves to have both the Spurs and Heat at full strength. Plus, we certainly wouldn’t mind seeing more late-game magic like this:
(GIF via SBNation)
What do you think?
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