RealGM

Popovich said after the game he has no idea what Parker’s status is. Game 1 of the Finals is Thursday at the AT&T Center.

“I don’t know what the deal is,” Popovich said. “He came to me with about eight minutes on the clock (before the game) and told me he couldn’t go. He couldn’t cut sideways or forward. We didn’t make a big deal out of (the injury), but I guess it caught up with him. I didn’t want him to be a hero. If he’s 50 percent or less, that’s bad for the team.

“But it was a tough decision to play him because if you lose, it affects him for Monday (in Game 7). We went back and forth. He tried to get warmer and warmer. He wasn’t doing very well, but the 19 minutes he gave us were huge. He showed a lot of guts to do what he did. But at halftime it stiffened up a little bit and I made the call. He wanted to go and I told him, you’re not.”