A lot is up in the air for the Spurs following their 122-113 road loss against the Thunder in Game 2 of the Western Conference finals Wednesday night.
All-Star guard De’Aaron Fox missed his second straight game with a right high ankle sprain.
Dylan Harper, Fox’s replacement in the starting lineup, went down with a leg injury in the third quarter and didn’t return.
With both players’ availability uncertain, a series that began promising for the Spurs after winning Game 1 now includes compounding problems.
“It feels like that’s always (the case) at this time of the season in every sport, right?” Spurs coach Mitch Johnson said. “You have to get to the end to give yourself a chance, and I think that’s why we have to continue to trust our depth and guys have to step up, and when their name’s called, answer the bell and be able to give us some quality minutes.
“And then as you do get tired and the physicality heightens and the intensity is ever so present, you gotta execute. And so there’s something there where there’s a mental, a physical, an emotional challenge.”
Johnson said he hasn’t received an update on Harper, who had 12 points and hit 5 of 10 shots as he logged 25 minutes Wednesday.
As for Fox, who was injured in Game 4 of the Western Conference semifinals against Minnesota, he’s still questionable.
He played in Games 4, 5 and 6 against the Timberwolves before missing the Spurs’ last two matchups against OKC.
“He’s just trying to play every day,” Johnson said. “It’s a tough injury that he wouldn’t be playing with in the regular season, so he’s trying to tough it out. And he did that in Minnesota and then had an awkward landing and so he re-aggravated it, and we just got to make sure that he’s in a place that he can be out there and compete to the level that he would need to in the game that we’re playing.”
San Antonio’s injury problems have created obstacles, but the Spurs aren’t making excuses.
OKC had its own issue to deal with as Jalen Williams exited Wednesday’s game with 1:34 left in the first quarter due to left hamstring tightness and didn’t return.
“It’s tough,” said guard Stephon Castle, who led the Spurs with 25 points. “Regardless, I think the five guys on the court are pretty much connected at all times. Obviously, we want all of our guys to be healthy and be on the court, but just to see somebody go out mid-game kind of gives you a little bit more motivation to kind of do it for them. But I feel like coming into the game we kind of had the same mindset with Fox out.”
Game 3 is set for 7:30 p.m. Friday in San Antonio.
“I think we’ll all in a good headspace,” Castle said. “We came here, won a game on the road, and they’re a good team and they responded. So now have a chance to play in front of our fans, so I think we’ll erase this game pretty quick.”
Nick Sardis covers high school sports for The Oklahoman. Have a story idea for Nick? He can be reached at nsardis@oklahoman.com or on Twitter at @nicksardis. Sign up for The Varsity Club newsletter to access more high school coverage. Support Nick’s work and that of other Oklahoman journalists by purchasing a digital subscription today at subscribe.oklahoman.com.
This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: De’Aaron Fox, Dylan Harper injuries limit Spurs backcourt vs Thunder