Stop Scaring Your Coach with Injuries, Spurs

The man is gonna keel over if this keeps up: “One member of Gregg Popovich’s ‘Big Three,’ Manu Ginobili, already had been declared out for the season, and a second had looked so brittle that the Spurs coach sent Tim Duncan to the bench early in the fourth quarter. So when All-Star point guard Tony Parker came up limping after a drive to the basket with 3:40 left in the Spurs’ 95-83 loss to the Portland Trail Blazers at the AT&T Center on Wednesday night, Popovich feared the worst. ‘I thought he did (turn an ankle),’ Popovich said. ‘I was frightened. But when he came out he said he had a cramp.’ Indeed, Parker said he had cramps in both calves as the second game of a set of back-to-back games neared its conclusion.”