With Thunder frontward Serge Ibaka lined out for the break of the playoffs with a calf sprain that has distorted the whole thing about this match, San Antonio Spurs point guard Tony Parker said Sunday that he will participate on Monday in Game 1 (9 p.m. ET, TNT). The expert All-Star continuous a Grade 1 left confine injured in Wednesday's semifinals-clinching Game 5 vs. the Portland Trail Blazers.
"It feels better," Parker said. "Hopefully it'll be even better tomorrow."
Parker learned in the 2013 postseason, clashing from side to side constrain grievance at this fundamental component of the period can come at a rate. His Grade 2 right constrain damage was a major subplot of the 7 game NBA Finals defeat to the Miami Heat, with Parker rather incomplete in the back-and-forth matter in which even the smallest amount of limits eventually made a dissimilarity.
Ibaka was an imperious existence in the Thunder's four wins beside the Spurs in the standard season, averaging 4.0 blocks in those summits to go with 14.0 points and 11.5 rebounds. This was effortlessly Ibaka's best season yet, as the 5th-year player averaged 15.1 points, 8.8 rebounds and 2.7 blocks per match and the Thunder completed with the confederacy succeeding best record (59-23). Ibaka led the confederation in totality blocks for the 4th uninterrupted season.
"We've got to be ready for them anyway," Spurs forward Boris Diaw said. "We know the head of the snake is (Kevin) Durant and (Russell) Westbrook, (and they) have been playing great during these playoffs, so we can keep the focus a little bit more, worry a little less about (what) Ibaka will do. But they still have a very, very good team.
"When Ibaka is on the floor you've got to focus on what he's doing. He has become a really good shooter from the outside too, especially this season. It would be one more offensive player to worry about. It might shift a little bit our center of focus defensively to be able to focus a little more on Westbrook and Durant."
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