PHOENIX — San Antonio Spurs point guard Dejounte Murray suffered a sprained left ankle Wednesday night with his team leading by 27 points over the Phoenix Suns in the second quarter of the opening outing of San Antonio’s annual Rodeo Road Trip.
Murray’s left leg buckled during a driving layup with 5 minutes, 30 seconds remaining in the first half. Murray grabbed at his injured ankle immediately, and veterans Manu Ginobili and Pau Gasol helped the second-year guard off the court.
Murray started to leave the court area with athletic trainer Will Sevening but instead was checked out by the medical staff near the Spurs’ bench, before returning to the floor to shoot free throws. Shortly after that, the Spurs announced Murray would not return to the game.
The Spurs recently promoted Murray into the starting lineup on a permanent basis, while moving veteran Tony Parker into a reserve role.
Murray played 13 minutes before suffering the injury against the Suns, scoring 14 points on 7 of 12 shooting to go with four rebounds, three assists and a steal. San Antonio went on to win 129-81.
After the game, Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said there is no timetable for Murray’s return. The team typically errs on the side of caution on bringing back injured players — veteran forward Kawhi Leonard has played in just nine of San Antonio’s 56 games, while Rudy Gay remains out as he recovers from bursitis in his right heel.
On the positive side, after the team’s matchup this Saturday against the Golden State Warriors, the Spurs will receive some time off with the upcoming All-Star break.
In a loss to the Utah Jazz on Saturday, Murray reached 500 career points, becoming the first Spur since Leonard to score 500 points or more and tally 300-plus rebounds over his first 100 games. Murray recorded 11 rebounds two days before that against the Houston Rockets, marking his ninth game with 10-plus rebounds this season, which ranks as the most double-digit rebounding performances by a Spurs point guard in a single season.
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