No Kawhi Leonard, no Stephen Jackson, and the Spurs still battled one of the NBA’s hottest teams to the wire before falling 92-87.

That the game began to unravel for the Spurs not long after Jackson — making his second start in Leonard’s spot — broke his right pinkie in a loose-ball scrum with Willie Green was not lost on his teammates.

Already absent Leonard to start the game — he’s out at least another six games with quadriceps tendinitis — the Spurs will be without Jackson for the next four-to-six weeks.

“Every team goes through injuries,” said point guard Tony Parker, who had 11 points and six assists. “We’re just going to have to have a lot of guys step up. Kawhi does a lot of stuff for us and Jack too, but we’re going to have to play without them.”

via Jeff McDonald of the San Antonio Express-News