By Rich Myhre
Herald Writer
SEATTLE – The San Antonio Spurs arrived in town Thursday night, still smarting from a 98-90 loss to the Seattle SuperSonics three nights before and with the word that 7-foot center David Robinson is sidelined due to a back injury.
The Seattle SuperSonics might feel some sympathy if these were not the loser-out NBA playoffs.
And if they did not have injury woes of their own.
The Sonics went through a vigorous workout Thursday afternoon that did not include forwards Rashard Lewis and Vlade Radmanovic. Both players are still bothered by painful, nagging wounds that threaten their availability for Saturday’s third game of this best-of-five opening round series.
First Lewis, who missed the last nine games of the regular season with a sprained left ankle suffered against Memphis on March 27. Lewis was not expected to play in last Saturday’s playoff opener, but managed to get in for 21 minutes and score 13 points. He was even better in Monday’s Game 2, delivering 19 points and four rebounds in 38 minutes.
Yet Lewis has practiced sparingly this week, staying out of all scrimmages and contact drills.
” (The ankle) is still real sore,” he said. “It’s the back of my heel that’s bothering me when I try to run on it or put pressure on it. It was hurting the whole time (in San Antonio), especially when I would run or try to jump. I’m not 100 percent, but during the game I just have to play through it.”
Lewis had just seven rebounds in the two Texas games, which was his regular-season average for one game. The reason, he said, is because “I can’t jump right now. I feel I should be rebounding more, but my ankle is holding me back from what I can do. I’m just going to have to fight through the pain. … The only time it ever hurts me is when I’m running or jumping. When I’m walking it’s normal. I don’t really have any pain until I try to put pressure on it.
“On Saturday,” he added, “once I get into the game my adrenaline will be rushing and hopefully I won’t even think about it.”
Radmanovic, meanwhile, was out 15 games in March and April with a sprained right big toe. He played the last five games of the regular season, but re-injured the foot in an April 13 game against Dallas. Radmanovic played just 10 minutes in Saturday’s Game 1 and was scoreless, and then managed five points in 22 minutes in Game 2.
He sat out most of the team’s Wednesday and Thursday practices, and says he is questionable to play Saturday.
“I gave it a rest (at practice this week) and tried to avoid any discomfort with this injured foot,” said the native Yugoslavian. “If it’s better, I’ll obviously try to play on Saturday. If not, I’ll have to miss the game and then play the next game at home.”
“When I just walk around, I don’t feel anything,” Radmanovic said, echoing Lewis. “It’s when I try to do something (strenuous) that it hurts.”
Seattle’s chances against the Spurs, both in Game 3 and for the rest of the series, would obviously be diminished without a healthy Lewis and Radmanovic. The injuries have coach Nate McMillan grateful for the long respites between games – there were five days between Games 2 and 3, and four days between Games 3 and 4 – of this series.
“Before Game 2, I was thinking (the days off) would be too long,” McMillan said. “But with us having these injuries, hopefully the time off will allow these guys to recover and be ready for the game on Saturday.”
As for Robinson, he was not expected to travel to Seattle with his teammates on Thursday. He has what is believed to be a degenerative disc in the L4/L5 vertebrate of his lower back, and on Monday he received an epidural injection to reduce swelling. Based on the team’s midweek report, Robinson is not expected to play Saturday and is questionable for Wednesday’s Game 4.
“We obviously want him back,” Spurs coach Gregg Popovich told the San Antonio Express-News newspaper. “It’s a big loss.”
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