De'Aaron Fox injury update: Spurs star hobbles to locker room

With a chance to clinch a berth in the Western Conference finals, the San Antonio Spurs jumped out to an early lead. One of their key players, however, limped off the floor with an apparent foot injury.

Starting point guard De’Aaron Fox appeared to suffer a tweaked ankle with 1:15 left to play in the first half and limped off the floor under his own power, though he appeared to be unable to put weight on the injured foot.

At the start of the third quarter, however, Fox was back on the court and started the period. In fact, he even converted his first shot attempt of the second half, a 3 from the right corner.

The injury appeared to happen around the 1:30 mark in the second quarter, when Fox jumped straight in the air to tip a loose ball to a teammate; immediately after landing, Fox hobbled off in evident discomfort. He headed toward the bench and said something to Spurs coach Mitch Johnson before limping straight into the locker room.

Fox had a stellar start to the game, scoring 13 points on 5-of-6 shooting, adding 4 rebounds, 2 assists and 1 block in the first half.

The good news for San Antonio is that guard is a position of excellent depth. Rookie guard Dylan Harper, who has had an exceptional postseason, was subbed in for Fox.

The Spurs took a 74-61 lead into the half and went on to win 139-109 to win the series 4-2. Even with the injury scare, Fox finished with 21 points on 8-for-10 shooting and dished out 9 assists. He hit all three of his 3-pointers. He even had 2 blocks.

Fox had been managing right ankle soreness throughout the series and Johnson said Fox's issues Friday were with the same ankle.

"He’s one of the toughest guys in the league," Johnson said. "He doesn’t miss any games. He’s one of the guys — he doesn’t talk about it much, he doesn’t show much (emotion). He had moments in this game that we needed to settle us. A lot of times, probably, the casual observer wouldn’t understand when you’re up 16 points, hypothetically, you don’t need to be settled in. It feels like you’ve got a big lead on the road in the playoffs against this team. That’s not the case.

"He made multiple plays all night long, whether they showed up in the box score or not that just settled us and was a catalyst on both ends. He doesn’t get enough credit for that.”

"I’m all right,” Fox said of his ankle. “I mean, it hurts a bit. It’s the side, not the back, so I felt comfortable being back out there.”