Manu doesn’t think he’ll be out very long

The San Antonio Spurs had a really nice win against the Los Angeles Clippers Saturday afternoon, especially when you consider they played most of the game without Tiago Splitter who strained his calf and almost the entire 2nd half without Many Ginobili, who aggravated an oblique injury he got sustained against Detroit. 

After the game Coach Pop said he thinks they lost Manu again “for a while”, but the San Antonio Express News’ Mike Monroe ran in to Ginobili at Los Angeles International Airport, who said he’s already feeling better.

“Last night it was very bad, but the [anti-]inflammatories already are working,” Ginobili said. “We’ll know more tomorrow, but I am hopeful.”

So that’s good news.  We also know that while Tiago Splitter will skip tonight’s game, he’s going to remain with the team on the trip.

That means there’s an outside shot he plays again on the trip and almost certainly means he’ll be fine after the All-Star break.

I wrote before the trip started that the toughest part of the trip was going to be these three games against Utah, Portland and Denver in four days.  All three teams aren’t playing as well as they were when the month of February started but they’re all pretty dangerous teams that present problems for the Spurs (Utah’s size and Denver’s depth both come to mind).

I don’t think the Spurs will finish the road trip 9-0, but fans should feel really good if they finish the trip 7-2, especially with no Manu and probably no Tiago for the next three games.

UPDATE:

Spurs have announced both Ginobili and Splitter will be out of action for two weeks.