SAN ANTONIO (AP) -- San Antonio Spurs point guard Tony Parker started but played just 13 minutes Tuesday night in a loss against the Detroit Pistons in his third attempt to get back on the court after straining his left hamstring.
Parker had missed 13 games total since initially suffering the injury Dec. 5 at Memphis. Parker had missed five straight games since aggravating the injury for a second time Dec. 25 against Oklahoma City.
"It's been very frustrating," Parker said. "It's never happened to me before for that long, but it happens. Hopefully it's behind me and the last treatment I did is hopefully the good one and now I can put it behind me and just get back to playing and playing good basketball."
Parker was 0-for-3 shooting and had just two assists, but he did not appear to aggravate the injury -- great news for the defending NBA champion Spurs. The Pistons beat the Spurs 105-104 on a last-second shot.
Parker initially attempted to return after three games, but returned to the sidelines.
Parker said he has to do some extra stretching and warming up to try to prevent the problem from coming back.
"The OKC game, it just didn't feel right," Parker said. "People who've had hammys, they told that can happen; you think you feel good, but it's still there. So we tried to be patient with it. We'll see what happens tonight."
