(The Spread) – The collective gasp you heard last night came from the NBA fans in San Antonio.
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Tim Duncan left Monday’s Spurs’ game with a severely sprained ankle that could keep him out for the rest of the regular season. The earlier prognosis is that he’ll miss two weeks depending on whether or not he suffered a Grade 1 or Grade 2 sprain. (Grade 1 sprains are mild, while Grade 2 sprains are partial tears of ligaments and Grade 3 sprains mean a complete tear.)
Either way, Duncan will be out for an extended period of time and it’s not unreasonable to think that the Spurs will rest their All-Star forward for the rest of the regular season. They own a league-best 57-13 record but need Duncan to be 100% for the playoffs in order to have a shot at winning this year’s title.
Oddsmakers from online sports book SBGGLOBAL.com had the Spurs listed at 5/1 to win the 2011 NBA title and those odds have only slightly dropped (11/2) since Duncan’s injury. As of now, oddsmakers aren’t overly concerned by how long Duncan will be out, but things could obviously change quickly if the star’s status changes.
The Spurs are off tonight but will take on the Denver Nuggets tomorrow at 10:30PM ET. Oddsmakers have installed San Antonio as a 3.5-point road underdog without Duncan, while the over/under total is currently 210.5 points.
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