SPORTS

Spurs guard Tony Parker out for a month with ankle sprain

The Associated Press Published Saturday, March 2, 2013 2:36PM EST

San Antonio Spurs point guard Tony Parker (9), of France, takes the ball past Oklahoma City Thunder small forward Kevin Durant Game 6 in the NBA basketball Western Conference finals, in Oklahoma City, on June 6, 2012. ( AP / Eric Gay)

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SAN ANTONIO -- San Antonio Spurs guard Tony Parker will be out for about a month with a left ankle sprain.

Parker, the team's leading assist man, injured the ankle in the third period of Friday night's win over the Sacramento Kings.

The team announced Saturday afternoon that an MRI showed Parker had a Grade 2 left ankle sprain, and will be out for "approximately four weeks."

The 30-year-old Parker closed out February averaging 26.1 points and 8.3 assists and had shot 54 per cent from the field.

On Friday night, Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said Parker was "playing better than any other point guard in the league" this year, and that the team would miss him.