As likely as it seemed on Wednesday that when Tony Parker was carried from the AT&T Center floor that he would not soon return, the news was stunning to the Rockets, anyway.
As horrible as the news of Parker's ruptured quadriceps muscle had to be for the team the Rockets want to beat, it was bad news for the Rockets, too. Yet, as great a loss as Parker can be, the Rockets argued their Spurs will be all right.
"Man, he's been a staple in their organization for so long that he's done so many things for them, in the playoffs, throughout the regular season, that him not being there is going to be a huge hole for them," forward Trevor Ariza said.