Manu Ginobil broke a bone in his left hand during the Spurs’ 106-96 loss to the Timberwolves on Monday, and there is no timetable set for his return according to a team release. Just as a reminder, Ginobili is left handed, so this is his shooting hand.
Ginobili suffered the injury on a defensive play, reaching in on a drive from the Wolves’ Anthony Tolliver.
It didn’t look too bad initially, but the hit caused a fracture to the fifth metacarpal, which is the bone just below the pinky finger. Ginobili will be examined further in San Antonio on Tuesday. James Anderson will start in his place.
This is a severe blow to the 3-2 Spurs, as Ginobili leads the team in multiple offensive categories, including scoring at 17.2 points per game, field goal percentage (.592) and three-point field goal percentage (.519). When you add in the fact that Ginobili is fantastic at creating for himself or his teammates off the dribble with the ball in his hands, his contributions will be sorely missed, no matter how long he’s out.
