The Spurs championship hopes just took a big hit. Tony Parker is out for the playoffs with a ruptured left quadriceps tendon the Spurs announced today.
Spurs and Rockets are tied at 1-1 after San Antonio routed the Rockets 121-96 in game two. Game three is on Friday.
While Parker may not be the player he was many years ago, he is still a big part of what the Spurs do. Parker, 34, is averaging 15.9 ppg in the playoffs. Only Kawhi Leonard is averaging more points than Parker on the team. Parker still hits big shots as we saw in the Memphis series.
What’s next? The Spurs-Rockets series is a fairly even battle with Parker. It gets even tighter without him. Houston has already stolen home court advantage in a game one rout. I think the Spurs can still beat Houston. I never underestimate a Gregg Popovich led team. However, everybody is going to have to step up. LaMarcus Aldridge is going to have to be better. He has to average more than 13.5 ppg(playoff average) if the Spurs have any hope of beating the Rockets. If LA wants to be that guy, now is the time to show it. Should be interesting to see how the Spurs respond.
At this point, San Antonio can’t beat GSW without Parker. Quite frankly, they probably were not beating GSW with Parker. Unfortunately for Spurs fans, there will not be a title in San Antonio this season.
