San Antonio Spurs guard Manu Ginobili went down late in the fourth quarter of the teams’ 110-97 win over the New Orleans Pelicans on Wednesday night after being the recipient of a fierce, inadvertent knee to the groin area by Ryan Anderson, and it was announced by the Spurs on Thursday afternoon that Ginobili sustained an injury during the collision. Ginobili underwent successful testicular surgery on Thursday and will be out for at least one month.
Manu Ginobili underwent surgery earlier today in San Antonio after suffering a testicular injury in last night’s Spurs-Pelicans game. Ginobili, who is out indefinitely, will be sidelined for at least one month.
San Antonio currently sits at 41-8, good enough for second in the Western Conference and four games back of the first place Golden State Warriors. San Antonio hopes to supplant Golden State in the standings to avoid what would be a taxing second round series with the menacing Oklahoma City Thunder, but the likelihood of that happening seems to disintegrate with each Warriors shellacking.
With the way Golden State is playing, catching them with in the lineup Ginobili seemed to be out of the realm of possibility for San Antonio. Trying to do so now with their sixth man out for a sizable chunk of time is a daunting task that just seems unfeasible. San Antonio’s main concern now must be nursing Ginobili and Tim Duncan, who has been out the last five games with a sore knee, back to full strength as they gear up for what they hope to be a lengthy and successful postseason run.
Expect some combination of Jonathon Simmons, Kyle Anderson, Ray McCallum and maybe even Rasul Butler to occupy Ginobili’s minutes in his absence.
Ginobili, 38-years-old, was averaging 10 points, 3.3 rebounds and 3 rebounds per game in 19.7 minutes of action off the bench.
