(REUTERS) – San Antonio Spurs guard Manu Ginobili fractured his left shooting hand during a loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves on Monday and is out indefinitely, the team said. Ginobili was injured during the second quarter when he rose to shoot the ball and was fouled by Anthony Tolliver. He was to be further examined yesterday.
Without their leading scorer, the Spurs (3-2) went on to lose to the Timberwolves 106-96.
A two-time NBA All Star, Ginobili entered the night averaging a team-best 19.8 points per game before suffering the break.
The Argentine play-maker has been a valuable member of San Antonio’s core over the years and helped the franchise capture NBA championships in 2003, 2005 and 2007.
Despite compiling the league’s best record a year ago, the Spurs lost in the first round of the playoffs and are a team in transition with franchise player Tim Duncan now veteran.