Gregg Popovich jokes: Manu Ginobili out for the playoffs
Despite dropping game 3 to the Oklahoma City Thunder, San Antonio Spurs head coach Gregg Popovich was in a relatively good mood in the post-game press conference. Pop was asked about Manu Ginobili, who left the game late in the fourth quarter with a foot injury.
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His response, as per usual, was fantastic.
“He’ll be fine,” Pop started out.
After a brief pause, he added: “Or he is out for the rest of the playoffs. I mean you still have to have some fun, even if you lose. Come on, it’s basketball. Yes, we wanted to win, but I want to laugh too.”
The joke is obviously a bit of a shot at the Thunder, who claimed that Serge Ibaka was out for the rest of the playoffs with a calf injury. Instead, Ibaka missed the first two games but was back in the team for game 3, making a major impact with 15 points, seven rebounds and four blocks, hitting all but one of his shot attempts.
Even before the Western Conference Finals tipped off, Popovich and the Spurs didn’t quite buy into the notion that Ibaka was done for the year, and kept saying that they expected him to play.
The Spurs will obviously hope that Ginobili’s injury isn’t anything serious, as he kept his team in the game in the first half. Popovich himself claimed that it was a miracle that the game was actually close after two quarters. Ginobili hit some huge threes to keep the Spurs within striking distance early, finishing the game with 23 points and six three-pointers.