Parker breaks shooting hand
SAN ANTONIO EXPRESS-NEWS — Tony Parker’s season-long re-enactment of the Book of Job took its most serious turn yet Saturday when he left the Spurs’ 102-92 victory at Memphis with a broken right hand.
Parker fractured his fourth metacarpal while scrumming for a loose ball in the final seconds of the second quarter. For all intents and purposes, the injury will cause Parker to miss the rest of the regular season — after the game, coach Gregg Popovich said his starting point guard would be out “about six weeks.”
Parker, who had previously missed games this season with sprained ankles, plantar fasciitis, a strained hip flexor and food poisoning, is scheduled to return to San Antonio to have his hand re-examined by team doctors Monday.
Parker’s latest injury is the same one that kept center Matt Bonner out for four weeks in December and January. After he returned, Bonner played with a soft brace on his hand for about a week.
Given that he’s a point guard, and needs better ball control than a brace could give him, that might not be an option for Parker.
Bonner, the team expert on fractured metacarpals, envisions a tough recovery for Parker, a three-time All-Star.
“It’s the same thing with me,” Bonner said. “All his shots and his floaters are on his strong hand. It has its advantages, when it’s your hand and not your legs, so you can stay in shape. As far as your feel and your touch, that takes a lot of work.”
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