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Tony Parker suffers left leg injury, carried off floor during Spurs-Rockets Game 2

henry bushnell
Senior reporter

Tony Parker fell to the floor with a left leg injury in the fourth quarter of the San Antonio Spurs’ Game 2 victory over the Houston Rockets.

Parker was carried off the floor, and did not return. The Spurs have not yet announced an official diagnosis, but, speaking after the game, head coach Gregg Popovich said, “It’s not good.”

Here’s the play:

Parker elevated for a floater, and landed upright, but slowly crumpled to the floor in pain.

Parker lay on the court for a bit while the play continued. San Antonio fouled Patrick Beverley to force a stoppage so the Spurs medical staff could go attend to Parker, who appeared not to be moving the injured leg.

Parker was carried off the court by teammates Dewayne Dedmon and Dejounte Murray as coach Gregg Popovich looked on:

Parker exited the court to chants of his name from the crowd in San Antonio. Parker is a Spurs legend, and has played for San Antonio for his entire NBA career, ever since coming to the league in 2001. He’s won four championships, and is still an effective point guard at the age of 34.

After tending to Parker back in the locker room, the Spurs issued their official, if vague, update late in the fourth quarter: a “left leg injury,” with no specifics as to which part of the leg he injured. He will undergo an MRI on Thursday to determine the extent of the injury, with an update to come later.

Parker had 18 points in the game before the injury, and was a big reason the Spurs held a double-digit lead over Houston in the fourth quarter. After Parker’s exit, the Spurs ripped off a 21-5 run to put away the game, holding on for a 121-96 win that evened the seven-game series at 1-1.

After the game, Popovich offered a brief and bracing report on Parker’s status:

Manu Ginobili didn’t sound too optimistic either. “You kind of know that we’re not going to see him anytime soon,” Ginobili said. “So that’s a tough blow.”

What comes next if the MRI results aren’t good remains to be seen.

“We just finished the game,” Popovich said. “We’ll find out about Tony. We haven’t gotten together to talk about who’s going to play instead. You know, I have no idea.”

Game 3 tips at 9:30 p.m. ET in Houston.