Spurs' Bonner sidelined by broken hand
Mike Monroe
Spurs center-forward Matt Bonner has something in common with Lakers star Kobe Bryant: Just like Bryant, he can make shots after breaking a bone in his shooting hand.
Unlike Bryant, who broke the index finger on his right hand on Dec. 11 and has continued to play, Bonner is going to miss quite a few games.
At some point late in the first quarter of Saturday's Spurs-Pacers game at the AT&T Center, Bonner broke the fourth metacarpal — the bone in the meaty part of the hand that leads to the ring finger — on his right hand.
X-rays taken at the arena showed a partial fracture, and the initial diagnosis does not appear to indicate a need for surgery to repair the bone. Bonner will be re-examined on Monday before a final timetable for his return is announced, but he is certain to miss a significant number of games. He is optimistic his hiatus will last no more than a month.
“It's not broken all the way through, so it should heal itself in about four weeks,” he said. “That's about it.”
Bonner could not recall how the fracture occurred.
“I don't remember exactly when I did it,” he said. “But I was 3 for 3 after the broken hand.”
Bonner made three baskets late in the first period, then was removed from the game between the first and second periods and sent to the X-ray room.
“(Losing Matt) is huge for us,” Spurs captain Tim Duncan said. “Hopefully, it's a quick one and he gets back with us, but it's a big loss. He really plays some good minutes for us and changes the look on the floor. We'll have to adjust without him and hope he gets back soon.”
Energizer dunk: The crowd at the AT&T Center was just beginning to come alive as the Spurs whittled away at an 11-point Pacers lead in the fourth quarter Saturday, but it reached full roar with 7:23 left in the fourth when Spurs forward Richard Jefferson drove from the right corner for an emphatic reverse dunk that cut the deficit to six.
“We got in the bonus early (in the fourth), so (coach Gregg Popovich) told us just to keep going hard to the cup,” Jefferson said of the play. “Fortunately, I got some space and was able to get a good dunk in.”
Ho-hum: Predictably, Popovich was underwhelmed by the fact he recorded his 700th career victory on Saturday.
“It doesn't mean anything, other than that one has been in one place for a while and one has had good players, and so the wins come,” he said. “That's all it means. That's the truth.”
Now, for good or for bad, we will see what Bonner actually brought to the team. Heck, we may see nothing changing at all!
Im in the camp that believes him being injured only hurts the team. Someone else (Mason) is going to have to really step up out on the perimiter to facilitate the spacing we need in the interior.
“I don't remember exactly when I did it,” he said. “But I was 3 for 3 after the broken hand.”
Damn, this sucks.
If it's one month I'm happy. I thought it could be worse
Bonner is a big who with his outside shooting really created a lot of space for Tim. I think that McDyess can also do that if he begins to hit his midrange jumpers that he has hit consistently the last few years. Blair and McDyess will have to find a way to offset Bonner's loss.
Just my luck. I bought tickets for tomorrows game and the #1 player on the Spurs gets injured?!
Will Ian finally slip on a uniform on game day?
This could be a lot worse than people realize. Bonner actually plays decent defense and he was one of the few that was consistently spacing the floor and hitting the 3 ball. This Spurs team needs spacing and 3's to fall and losing Bonner hurts both of those badly.
Wow.....I always thought spurs nation was down on bonner but I guess I was wrong.
Well, all the haters should finally be happy. No Bonner or Finley for a while.
Speaking of Finley is there any update on him? It's been two weeks since his injury and we haven't heard a thing on his progress.
Other than Mason who is going to hit the outside shot consistently as these two were doing before being injured? Ginobli is about the only one I trust.
Yeah... this will be a good test to see how their absence really effects the team.
http://www.mysanantonio.com/sports/s...le_sprain.html
That seems to be the last report I can find, and that's about as specific as the Spurs seem to want to be about the matter.Backup forward Michael Finley suffered a Grade 2 sprain of his left ankle and will not make the trip to Utah for Monday's game against the Jazz.
A club spokesperson said Finley would miss “some games.”
Finley turned the ankle running to defend Denver's J.R. Smith, who was attempting a 3-point shot with 11:15 left in the fourth quarter of Denver's 106-99 victory.
The 36-year-old veteran last missed a game due to injury on Nov. 17, 2005.
Since returning on Nov. 19, 2005, he had played in 335 consecutive games, though he had one game he did not play by coach's decision last season.
Grade 2 sprains needs to be treating carefully though, or they can pop back up on a player if rushed back.
Bonner will just come back stronger.
as bad as it sounds this is entirely true...
Sucks to see, hopefully our bench steps up, esp Haislip or Ian.
I'm hoping this doesn't mean a lot more "small ball".
this is the first game I missed in years and of course Bonner goes and breaks his hand.
Spurs have already looked btter since Finley was out.
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