Report: Tiago Splitter could return to action on Tuesday

Finally some good news regarding Tiago Splitter. The Brazilian center could return to action on Tuesday, reports Dan McCarney of Spurs Nation:

Splitter could return as soon as Tuesday's road game at Utah for what head coach Gregg Popovich termed "quite short minutes."

Splitter has only seen 11 minutes of playing time this season in a game against the Hawks on November 5 before aggravating a calf injury that kept him on the sidelines for most of preseason. The nature of the injury was unkown, leading the franchise to believe it could be back-related. A specialist ruled out that possibility and Splitter went back to rehabbing his calf. It seems he's finally ready to give it a trial run to see if it's healed.

Aron Baynes has filled in well for Splitter, averaging 7.2 points and 4.9 rebounds on 17 minutes a game, all career highs. Still, Splitter's return is great news, as he was instrumental to last season's success and San Antonio prepares to face a tough second half of December. Expect Gregg Popovich to be as cautious as always initially with Tiago's minutes, increasing them incrementally as the games go by.

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Update: Not so fast. Splitter is out for Tuesday, reports McCarney:

Spurs injury report for Tuesday vs. Utah: Parker (left hamstring, out); Patty Mills (shoulder, out); Tiago Splitter (calf, out).

— Dan McCarney (@danmccarneySAEN) diciembre 8, 2014

The good news is Splitter was close enough to return that him being on the court against Utah was a possibility Pop entertained and, as McCarney points out, he could play on Wednesday against the Knicks.