Manu Ginobili Suffers Broken Hand, No Timetable for Return to Court

The San Antonio Spurs may have to tough it out without one of their best players for a while.

In the second quarter of Monday night's game against the Minnesota Timberwolves, shooting guard Manu Ginobili injured his left hand and had to head to the locker room.

According to Mike Monroe of the San Antonio Express, the news is not good:

In an extended report, Monroe noted that Ginobili hurt his hand trying to strip the ball from Anthony Tolliver as he was going up for a shot near the three-point line. It was clear right away that he was in pain, and the Spurs' head trainer was on him right away.

An X-ray taken at the arena revealed the fracture.

The Spurs are going to miss Ginobili if he has to miss extended time. He entered Monday's action as the team's leading scorer with an average of 19.8 points per game, scoring at least 20 points in three of San Antonio's first four games.

This is the second significant injury Ginobili has suffered in the last two seasons. Late in the 2010-2011 campaign, he suffered a nasty right elbow sprain that required him to wear a brace during the playoffs. He and the Spurs were knocked out of the playoffs in the first round.

Ginobili had eight points at the time of his exit. The Spurs went on to lose the game by the final of 106-96.

The Spurs now return home for a three-game home stand. We'll know more about Ginobili's injury in the coming days.