Thursday night, the San Antonio Spurs took on the Oklahoma City Thunder and MVP hopeful, Russell Westbrook. In this match-up, the Thunder dominated the Spurs from start to finish and saw Westbrook notch his 31st triple-double of the season matching Wilt Chamberlain for second-most in a season.
Although the Spurs were short-handed due to some player resting, they were also without Kawhi Leonard after he went down with a head injury in the third quarter. The severity of the injury was somewhat unknown during the game, but it was enough to keep Leonard out during the fourth quarter.
With more knowledge, we now know Leonard has gone through the concussion protocol and will miss tomorrow night’s game against the Warriors.
INJURY REPORT- Kawhi Leonard (concussion protocol) is out & Tony Parker (back stiffness) is questionable for tomorrow’s Spurs-Warriors game
— San Antonio Spurs (@spurs) March 10, 2017
However, as it pertains to Thursday’s game against the Thunder, Spurs head coach Gregg Popovich was not happy with his team’s effort and had no time to play the excuse game when asked about Kawhi’s absence in the fourth.
Gregg Popovich does not have time for these “excuses”: pic.twitter.com/2ZO1s3MKO5
— Erik Horne (@ErikHorneOK) March 10, 2017
Popovich was clearly not letting his team off the hook for their performance with or without their best player out on the floor. It’s clear that Popovich has a sense of urgency coming down the stretch of the regular season and the potential to vault the Warriors for the one seed is evident.
If we’ve learned one thing over the years, it’s Gregg Popovich holds his players accountable and won’t be looking for excuses anytime soon.
