Popovich: Pau Gasol out with stress fracture

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) - San Antonio forward Pau Gasol has a stress fracture in his left foot, Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said Wednesday.

Gasol, who didn't travel with the team to Minnesota and missed his 12th consecutive game Wednesday night, had been out with soreness in the foot but had recently been getting some work on the court.

"They took him off because he got a second opinion that it was as stress fracture," Popovich said. "That's what they told me, so it's not a secret I guess. So they put him back in the boot."

The coach gave no timetable for Gasol's return.

In his 17th season and third year in San Antonio, the 38-year-old Spanish star has played sparingly off the bench, averaging 6.8 points, 6.1 rebounds and 3.3 assists. Even so, Popovich said the team misses his ability to move the ball.

"The players in the second unit miss him because they had a lot of movement around him, he's a good passer," he said. "He can find them so him not being there has really affected that second group."