Several members of the San Antonio Spurs seemed skeptical when Oklahoma City Thunder power forward Serge Ibaka was ruled out for the rest of the postseason with a calf strain.
Turns out, they may have been right to be skeptical.
Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports explains:
Far from the beginnings of these Western Conference finals, far from these unfortified Oklahoma City Thunder, Serge Ibaka is defiant and determined for the world to witness his Willis Reed moment. Ibaka, so proud, so professional, is respectively raging against his injury diagnosis.
Ibaka is back in Oklahoma City for Games 1 and 2 – ruled out of the playoffs with a lower leg injury – but his willingness to play with pain, his loyalty to the championship cause, has him thinking about starting some stationary shooting late this week, a league source told Yahoo Sports on Monday.
Wojnarowksi did go on to throw some cold water on the prospects of Ibaka returning for the Western Conference Finals:
Deep down, Ibaka understands his medical timetable couldn't possibly include a return to these conference finals, but no one has yet talked him out of the belief he'd be back in the lineup if the Thunder advanced to the NBA Finals, a source said. The Thunder believed this injury would be a one-to-two-month recovery period. Without a tear in that plantaris muscle, though, Ibaka wants to believe it can be sooner.
The Thunder missed Ibaka in a big way in the opener of the Western Conference Finals, letting the Spurs score at will in a 122-105 loss. 66 of San Antonio's points came in the paint, and Tim Duncan had a comfortable 27 points in 29 minutes.
"Missing Serge is pretty tough," Thunder point guard Reggie Jackson said. "…[You can get] a little lazy having somebody that is an eraser back there like that, altering so many shots. …Your body tells you a few things – "just send them Serge's way." We have to get out of that mindset."
Thunder head coach Scott Brooks wanted no part of any Ibaka speculation after Monday's loss: "He's not coming through those doors. … He's not coming back."
Even still, every Thunder fan is surely holding out hope that they'll see Ibaka come through the tunnel before time runs out.