(Sports Network) - The San Antonio Spurs rebounded from an ugly home loss and
will stay in Alamo City Sunday night when they welcome the Detroit Pistons to
the AT&T Center.
The Spurs squashed the Sacramento Kings 130-102 on Friday night, but the win
came at a cost.
All-Star point guard Tony Parker sprained his left ankle in the third quarter
of the victory.
"He'll be out a while. It's a good one," Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said after
the victory.
Parker drove the lane for a layup with under five minutes left in the third
period, but he landed awkwardly as the ankle buckled upon hitting the floor.
Parker underwent an MRI Saturday morning and it was confirmed that Parker has
a Grade 2 left ankle sprain. He is expected to miss four weeks.
"We'll have to make some more adjustments," said Popovich. "Tony's been a
stalwart for us. He's having that All-Star season. As I've said, I thought he
was playing better than any other point guard in the league. We'll definitely
miss him."
Eight Spurs scored in double figures on Friday, led by 16 from DeJuan Blair
off the bench. Two other Spurs - Manu Ginobili and Corey Joseph - had nine
points as San Antonio dished out 41 assists on 51 made field goals.
Tim Duncan and Tiago Splitter both had double-doubles and Ginobili handed out
15 assists to go with nine points.
The Pistons have been struggling, losers of four of their last five. Sunday
will complete a three-game road trip where they are 1-1 so far.
The loss came Friday night in New Orleans against the Hornets. Detroit fell
100-95, but a 9-0 run with just under two minutes to play left them ahead
93-91.
Greivis Vasquez and Eric Gordon made some free throws, then Ryan Anderson
converted a layup. Rodney Stuckey had a look to tie it from the 3-point line
late, but missed.
"It came down to rebounding and free throws," said head coach Lawrence Frank.
"If you look at it, we out shot them and we hit the same amount of three's. We
were minus-13 on free throws made."
Statistics bare Frank's argument out. The Pistons shot 50 percent from the
field to 43 percent for New Orleans. Detroit lost the rebounding battle 47-40
and Frank was right about the minus-13 differential at the foul line.
The Pistons ended a Spurs' 11-game winning streak on Feb. 8 in Detroit. The
Spurs had won three straight against the Detroit and two of the last three at
home against the Pistons.
The Sports Network