{"id":5032,"date":"2017-03-11T14:07:38","date_gmt":"2017-03-11T19:07:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonprobasketball.com\/?p=5032"},"modified":"2017-03-11T14:07:38","modified_gmt":"2017-03-11T19:07:38","slug":"lamarcus-aldridge-out-indefinitely","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2017\/03\/11\/lamarcus-aldridge-out-indefinitely\/","title":{"rendered":"LaMarcus Aldridge Out Indefinitely: Battle of the Diminished Begins"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonprobasketball.com\/category\/spurs\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">San Antonio Spurs<\/a> forward <strong><a href=\"http:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/a\/aldrila01.html?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">LaMarcus Aldridge<\/a><\/strong> is out indefinitely due to an occurrence of a minor heart arrhythmia, according to the team. There is no official timetable for Aldridge&#8217;s return, as the forward will need to undergo further tests. This is awful news for the dominant Spurs, as the playoffs draw closer. The battle between the Spurs and the\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonprobasketball.com\/category\/warriors\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Golden State Warriors<\/a> just became even more intriguing, but who has the upper hand?<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">LaMarcus Aldridge will be out for an indefinite period due to an occurrence of a minor heart arrhythmia. <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/s0D2Enc6RO\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">pic.twitter.com\/s0D2Enc6RO<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; San Antonio Spurs (@spurs) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/spurs\/status\/840602441242537985?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">March 11, 2017<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<h2><strong>LaMarcus Aldridge Out Indefinitely: Battle of the Diminished Begins<\/strong><\/h2>\n<h4><strong>Current Situation<\/strong><\/h4>\n<p>Both the Spurs and Warriors are currently experiencing small losing streaks. Since the <strong><a href=\"http:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/d\/duranke01.html?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Kevin Durant<\/a><\/strong> injury, the Warriors have been in a slump. Sitting atop of the Pacific Division with a 52-13 record, the Warriors have already clinched a playoff spot. Securing the earliest playoff berth in NBA history, <a href=\"http:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/k\/kerrst01.html?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><strong>Steve Kerr<\/strong>&#8216;s<\/a> team has lost two in a\u00a0row. Golden State&#8217;s 99-86 loss at home against the <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonprobasketball.com\/category\/celtics\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Boston Celtics<\/a> came as quite a surprise to most. <a href=\"http:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/c\/curryst01.html?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><strong>Steph Curry<\/strong><\/a> and <strong><a href=\"http:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/t\/thompkl01.html?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Klay Thompson<\/a><\/strong> appear to be out of rhythm, as the team has gone through its worst spell of the season. The Warriors gave up a ton of depth to land Durant. So with the eight-time All-Star out for weeks, something needs to change.<\/p>\n<p>The Spurs have been a popular topic of discussion for the last week or so. <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonprobasketball.com\/2017\/03\/01\/warriors-kevin-durant-injures-knee-mri\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">With Durant going down<\/a>, many have entertained the idea of the Spurs taking advantage. All of a sudden, the Spurs became favorites to win the West. <strong>Gregg Popovich<\/strong> has always coached competitive Spurs teams, and this season is no different. Popovich&#8217;s Spurs are currently 50-14 and leading the Southwest Division. <strong><a href=\"http:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/l\/leonaka01.html?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Kawhi Leonard<\/a><\/strong> is an MVP candidate, averaging 26.2 points per game. Leonard is just one of many leaders on a Spurs team looking to fight the Warriors for the No. 1 seed in the Western Conference.<\/p>\n<h4><strong>Unclear Favorite<\/strong><\/h4>\n<p>Up until the Durant injury, the Warriors were clearly the favorite to win the West. Then, just recently, there was about a week when Popovich&#8217;s Spurs looked set to swoop in and steal the top seed, and for good reason. Fans and pundits had no clue what to expect from a Durant-less Warriors team. Everyone knew they would be good, but down the line, come playoff-time, Golden State would be very unpredictable. The Spurs had a returning <strong><a href=\"http:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/g\/gasolpa01.html?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Pau Gasol<\/a><\/strong> and a team full of veterans who know how to win. But now, this injury to Aldridge has thrown everything up in the air. Perhaps it even brings <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonprobasketball.com\/category\/rockets\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Houston<\/a> into the mix, but let&#8217;s not get ahead of ourselves. The Spurs and Warriors look set for a two-horse race to the finish line.<\/p>\n<h4><strong>How Can the Warriors Recover?\u00a0<\/strong><\/h4>\n<p>A two-game losing streak is a bad sign, but not something to panic about. If the &#8220;Splash Brothers&#8221; rediscover their form and solve their shooting woes, Kerr&#8217;s team should be fine. <strong><a href=\"http:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/g\/greendr01.html?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Draymond Green<\/a><\/strong> will be key, as the passionate defensive specialist needs to find last season&#8217;s game. Green could be the difference between winning and losing without Durant. This team has the star power and talent to dominate and kill off the Spurs&#8217; attempts to take control of the West.<\/p>\n<p>The two teams face off tonight, in a battle which will see both without their stars. The Warriors announced on Friday that Curry, Thompson, Green, and <strong><a href=\"http:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/i\/iguodan01.html?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Andre Iguodala<\/a><\/strong> will all sit out the visit to San Antonio due to rest. That&#8217;s in addition to Durant missing the game, of course. This, on top of Aldridge&#8217;s injury, as well as Leonard sitting out because of the NBA&#8217;s concussion protocol, will make fans miss out on seeing a great deal of talent. All in all, tonight&#8217;s game should still be competitive, and one of extreme importance in the standings.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Main Photo:<\/p>\n<div class=\"getty embed image\" style=\"background-color: #fff; display: inline-block; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue',Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif; color: #a7a7a7; font-size: 11px; width: 100%; max-width: 594px;\">\n<div style=\"padding: 0; margin: 0; text-align: left;\"><a style=\"color: #a7a7a7; text-decoration: none; font-weight: normal !important; border: none; display: inline-block;\" href=\"http:\/\/www.gettyimages.com\/detail\/494750412\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Embed from Getty Images<\/a><\/div>\n<div style=\"overflow: hidden; position: relative; height: 0; padding: 66.666667% 0 0 0; width: 100%;\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" style=\"display: inline-block; position: absolute; top: 0; left: 0; width: 100%; height: 100%; margin: 0;\" src=\"\/\/embed.gettyimages.com\/embed\/494750412?et=Nu9PYwdaSR51gIuPO2nPUw&amp;viewMoreLink=off&amp;sig=O7E980XQIcxizQEQwd-KVZRm5YxrCnjndYIuXcaTxv4=&amp;caption=true\" width=\"594\" height=\"396\" frameborder=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\"><\/iframe><\/div>\n<p style=\"margin: 0;\">\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>With Spurs forward LaMarcus Aldridge out indefinitely, the race for the first seed in the Western Conference has taken an intriguing turn.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":638,"featured_media":5046,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"1","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[34,25,62,3],"tags":[65,182,69,410,96,563,55],"class_list":["post-5032","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-spurs","category-warriors","category-nba","category-news","tag-basketball","tag-golden-state-warriors","tag-kevin-durant","tag-lamarcus-aldridge","tag-nba","tag-nba-western-conference","tag-san-antonio-spurs"],"modified_by":"Lior Kozai (Managing Editor)","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5032","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/638"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5032"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5032\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5046"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5032"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5032"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5032"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}