Posted by Sabrina B. @gametimegirl
San Antonio Spurs guard Manu Ginobili has broken his left hand against Minnesota and is out indefinitely.
The Spurs say Ginobili will be examined by team doctors Tuesday in San Antonio. There is no timetable for his return.
“It’s going to be tough for us because he was playing at an All-Star level,” said point guard Tony Parker, who had 11 points in San Antonio’s 106-96 loss to the Timberwolves. “And now we’re going to have to have everybody pick it up.”
A two-time All-Star, Ginobili was injured when he fouled Anthony Tolliver as he rose to shoot the ball late in the second quarter Monday night. Ginobili immediately grabbed his shooting hand and crouched in pain near the scorer’s table as the team trainer came to his side.
Ginobili was taken for X-rays, which revealed a broken fifth metacarpal, below his pinkie. As he walked back to the locker room, Tim Duncan gave him a pat on the head.
Ginobili had eight points on 3-for-6 shooting in 12 minutes.
His loss could linger for a while. The team’s leading scorer, he is the emotional and fiery center of this proud, veteran team. With Duncan getting older and having his minutes limited to save him for the postseason, the offense revolves around Ginobili’s perimeter shooting and slashing to the basket.
“Manu is pretty important to us and we lost him,” Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said. “We’ll just have to deal with it.”
