Tony Parker suffered a hamstring injury in the first quarter of the Spurs’ series-clinching win over the Blazers, and didn’t play the rest of the game.
The injury wasn’t believed to be serious at the time. although an MRI did reveal a grade 1 strain.
Fortunately for San Antonio, he isn’t going to miss any more time, and after practicing with the team on Sunday, was cleared to play in Game 1 of the Western Conference Finals against the Thunder on Monday.
From Dan McCarney of the San Antonio Express-News:Parker took three days off to rehab before returning for the second of two weekend practices on Sunday. He had little to say about his actual condition, responding mainly with one-word answers. The lone exception:
“I know what I have to do (to manage the injury),” said Parker, who missed 14 games during the regular season with a variety of setbacks and forced rest. “It’s part of basketball. Everybody goes through injuries. I’m used to it.”
While the Spurs will begin the series at full strength, Oklahoma City will be without its best interior defender and safety-valve mid-range shooter in Serge Ibaka, who is expected to miss the remainder of the postseason after suffering an extremely unlucky calf injury.
Parker is averaging a team-best 19.3 points and 4.9 assists per game in the playoffs for San Antonio this season.
