Walker to be sidelined for 7th straight game
Spurs swingman Lonnie Walker IV’S sore right wrist will force him to miss a seventh consecutive game.
In their Friday injury report, the Spurs listed Walker as out for tonight’s contest against the Indiana Pacers, the eighth in a nine-game homestand that’s the longest in franchise history.
Walker sat out a win at Cleveland on March 19, only to return the next night to score a careerhigh 31 points in 33 minutes in a loss at Milwaukee. Afterward, he revealed his wrist was “killing” him during pregame warmups in Cleveland.
Walker, who has been wearing a brace on his wrist, hasn’t played since March 22, when he scored just three points in nine minutes in a loss to Charlotte.
The Spurs listed Walker as probable for Wednesday’s game against the Kings, but they downgraded him to out before the 120-106 win after he complained of soreness while shooting.
“It was just too sore when he was shooting 3s,” Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said. “He just couldn’t really do it.”
The injury bothered Walker before this current stretch of missed games, but he soldiered on because the Spurs were short-handed at various times because of injuries to Derrick White, a COVID-19 outbreak that sidelined five players, and the death of Demar Derozan’s father.
The Spurs also will be without center Gorgui Dieng (right shoulder sprain), forward Trey Lyles (right ankle sprain) and forward Keita Batesdiop (right hamstring strain) tonight.
Popovich said Thursday that Dieng could be out for a week after suffering the injury in his debut with the Spurs on Wednesday.
It will be the second game in a row Lyles has missed and the 12th straight for Bates-diop.
Poeltl racking up double-doubles
With 14 points and 10 rebounds in Thursday’s 134-129 double-overtime loss to Atlanta, Spurs center Jakob Poeltl recorded his ninth doubledouble of the season after notching just nine in his first four seasons.
Poeltl has played in 46 games this season. He logged 279 games in his first four seasons, the first two of which were spent with Toronto.
Poeltl also had two steals and a block in a career-high 44 minutes against the Hawks. He’s had at least one block in nine consecutive games and is averaging 2.1 over that span.
Poeltl has led the Spurs in blocks 25 times this season, in rebounds 19 times, in steals five times, in points twice and assists once.
“He is becoming one of those bigs who is all over the place,” Spurs guard Patty Mills said.
Derozan reaches Spurs milestone
Derozan finished with 36 points against the Hawks, marking his 30th game with 30-plus points as a Spur.
Only eight players in franchise history have more such games: George Gervin, Tim Duncan, David Robinson, Tony Parker, Manu Ginobili, Larry Kenon, Mike Mitchell and Lamarcus Aldridge.
Mills moving up 3-point ladder
Mills hit his 1,179th 3-pointer Thursday, surpassing Deron Williams for 75th in league history.
Dennis Scott and Kyrie Irving are tied for 73rd with 1,214. Former Spur Marco Belinelli, who is now playing in his native Italy, is 72nd with 1,216.