Parker's Health Matters Most

[Giantmetfan07]

Parker's Health Matters More Than Terrible Loss


Not once since the NBA began in 1946 has a team lost a regular-season game by 30 points and gone on to win an NBA championship. This is fact, gleaned from a search on basketball-reference.com, which any fan with even a shred of interest in league history should bookmark. Does this mean the Spurs have suddenly dropped from the ranks of legitimate contenders for the 2013 title?

Spurs fans who tossed and turned all night after the sub-.500 Trail Blazers reeled off 79 second-half points in a 136-106 shredding at the AT&T Center on Friday night likely believe this to be the case. Anyone who understands the nature of an 82-game schedule knows otherwise. Here’s another historical fact with some relevance: On Memorial Day in 1985, the Celtics humiliated the Lakers 148-114 in Game 1 of the NBA Finals. Somehow, the Lakers recovered to win Game 2 at the Boston Garden and went on to take home the Larry O’Brien Trophy by winning the series in six games.

One game, after all, is one game, and the Spurs don’t have to wait long for their chance to get things back on course. Parker will need to be his MVP-candidate self for the Spurs to contend. That’s why his revelation that he has started running on a treadmill one week after suffering a Grade 2 left ankle sprain was a more important takeaway from Friday’s proceedings than the shock of the 30-point thumping.

If Parker’s history of quick recovery allows him to regain his full effectiveness by Game 1 of the playoffs, no 30-point loss to a team on the outside of the postseason looking in will disqualify the Spurs from title contention.