A commanding 33-13 fourth quarter and a 25-point win against the Houston Rockets to pay back the favor of an embarrassing 27-point loss wasn't enough to appease fans at the AT&T Center, as Tony Parker went down to an undisclosed knee injury with only 8:52 left in the game.
Parker was carried out of the court and into the locker room as most of his teammates held their breath, hoping for good news on his health.
According to a report by Adrian Wojnarowski of The Vertical, the 16-year veteran is expected to need season-ending surgery in his left knee, though he is still undergoing an MRI on the affected area.
Parker was seen clutching his knee upon landing awkwardly from one of his signature right-handed floaters in the heart of the lane. The French international had 18 points in 8-of-13 shooting from the field and 2-of-2 from deep before exiting the game with the non-contact injury.
In his absence, the San Antonio Spurs will likely have to roll with Patty Mills at point guard while rookie Dejounte Murray sees limited action off the bench, though coach Gregg Popovich has been known to throw Murray into the fire at times throughout the season, drawing some crispy results.
Parker suffered the injury just short of two weeks before his 35th birthday, which he fully expected to spend propelling this team deeper into the postseason. Depending on the gravity of his specific injury, there could be a literal changing of the guard to start next season as this Spurs team sheds its skin into a younger, more uptempo unit.
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