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Jason Richardson banged up his shooting hand Saturday in Denver when he jammed into the torso of a Nuggets player which bent back several fingers. The team officially called it a mild sprain and it kept him out of yesterday's team practice with swelling, discomfort and limited mobility.
Today at shoot-around before the Suns play the Spurs Jason said this about his hand, "Hey, I'm going to play. I don't sit out unless I can't walk. So, most likely I'm going to be playing."
Jason will at least start the game with a little bit of foam cushion wrapped in tape but J-Rich said doesn't like playing with stuff on his hand so expect it to come off early in the game. He's been icing it which has helped reduce the swelling. Jason described himself as "tough".
Coach Gentry stuck with the "game time decision" report and said they would wait and see how Jason felt and looked during pre-game warm-ups. Gentry was asked if the injury impacted Richardson's shooting performance in today's practice, "Well, he shot a lot of left-handed shots today so it wasn't effecting his left-handed shot, no. Well just have to wait and see though."
If Jason can't play it is possible Tucker would get some time but certainly Dragic will slide over and defend Ginobilli as will Dudley who's been assigned to cover guards on several occasions this season.
Shoot around audio
Other notes:
Robin Lopez stayed late working on a variety of offensive moves. He looked more calm then in weeks past. On the other end of the court Channing Frye and Goran Dragic took extra three's.
The Spurs did not hold an official shoot around and therefor avoided the prying eyes of the massive Phoenix press corp.