Two starters sit it out
Gallinari misses his first game of season and might be out awhile. Teodosic at least travels with team.
SAN ANTONIO — They represent two-fifths of the Clippers’ starting lineup, but although forward Danilo Gallinari and point guard Milos Teodosic arrived here with the team, they didn’t play against the San Antonio Spurs on Tuesday night.
Gallinari missed his first game of the season because of a strained left glute he suffered in the first half of Sunday’s game against the Miami Heat at Staples Center.
Teodosic hasn’t played since going down in the second game of the season against the Phoenix Suns with an injury to the plantar fascia of his left foot.
Gallinari said he felt some pain in his leg “four or five” games before he tried to play against the Heat.
“It got to the point where I couldn’t walk so I knew something was wrong,” Gallinari said. “We thought it was just a bruise, but it is a muscle strain.”
The Clippers haven’t given a timetable for Gallinari’s return, but he has his own opinion.
“My guess is 10 days or two weeks,” Gallinari said. “But I’m not the expert. I just know it’s going to take some time.”
“It’s not a serious injury,” coach Doc Rivers said. “The bottom line is we’re going to wait until he’s ready anyway.”
Teodosic remains out indefinitely, but being on the three-game trip was a promising development, Rivers said.
“That usually is a good sign for us when guys start traveling,” Rivers said. “And usually if we feel he’s getting close to coming back, that’s usually when we do it.”
The Spurs were missing stars Kawhi Leonard (right quadriceps tendinopathy) and Tony Parker (left quadriceps tendon surgery) as well as reserves Joffrey Lauvergne (sprained right ankle) and Derrick White (fractured right wrist).
But Rivers joked that he was not feeling sorry for Spurs coach Gregg Popovich and his injured players.
“We have all of Europe out, I guess, right now,” Rivers said with a laugh about not having Gallinari, who is from Italy, and Teodosic, who is from Serbia. “It’s the league right now. I think the shortened camps have had something to do with that. The less preseason games just creep up on you, but it’s tough.”