Duncan on Parker's breakout game: 'Huge for us and huge for him'
Sometimes, all that's needed is to talk about a problem to feel better about it.
Following one of the worst stretches of his career - amid his worst statistical season since his 2001-02 rookie year, no less - Tony Parker opened up about his struggles on Wednesday. On Thursday, he had a chat with Gregg Popovich, with the San Antonio Spurs head coach iterating confidence in the six-time All-Star.
Parker responded on Friday, leading the Spurs to a 107-96 road victory against the DeMarcus Cousins-less Sacramento Kings.
The Frenchman scored 11 of his team-high 19 points in the fourth quarter, also finishing with five rebounds and four assists in 30 minutes of action. Having scored just nine points on 3-of-21 shooting over his past three games combined, the outburst was a welcome confirmation that he remains Tony Parker.
"It starts with your head," Parker said after the game, according to Jeff McDonald from the San Antonio Express-News. "Sometimes when you're in a shooting slump and the whole team is not playing well, it's easy to have low energy."
The Spurs followed Parker into a crater of late, losing four consecutive games before Friday. The Spurs can hang with a struggling Parker, but they readily admit they're not a championship contender without him playing like himself, balky hamstring or not.
It's just one game - one half, really - but Friday represents a step in the right direction.
"It was huge for us and huge for him," teammate Tim Duncan said. "He's been hard on himself the past couple games, really struggling. Hopefully that builds the confidence he needs and we need him to have."
In 44 games, Parker is averaging 14 points and 4.9 assists with a 14.4 player efficiency rating, slightly below league average. ESPN's Real Plus-Minus probably overstates Parker's struggles, ranking him 488th out of 495 players in on-court impact this season. But the Spurs have struggled on offense without the usual Parker, ranking 12th after being ranked sixth, seventh, first and second over the past four seasons.
If he can find his stride between now and the playoffs, the Spurs will once again be as terrifying as the Spurs generally are.