SAN ANTONIO -- Spurs guard Danny Green will miss Friday's preseason finale at home against the Houston Rockets because of a strained left quadriceps that is expected to keep him out of the lineup for three weeks, including Tuesday's season opener at Golden State.
Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said Green's latest setback is the same injury to his high thigh that he suffered during pickup games before the start of training camp.
"Knowing Pop, it won't affect them at all," Rockets coach Mike D'Antoni said. "He will figure it out."
Coming off a 2015-16 campaign in which he finished with the second-lowest 3-point shooting percentage of his career (33.2), Green missed the first week of training camp and the club's exhibition opener against the Phoenix Suns because of the injury.
Green said he reinjured the thigh in Tuesday's scrimmage, and he underwent an MRI afterward, which revealed the injury. He also said he hopes to return before the team's official timetable of approximately three weeks.
In other injury news, second-year guard Jonathon Simmons will miss the exhibition finale because of a right calf contusion.
Green knocked down just 30.1 percent from 3-point range during the 2015 calendar year, after he connected on better than 40 percent from long range over his first four seasons in San Antonio. But he regained his form in the postseason and hit 24 of his 48 attempts from 3-point range.
Green contributes mostly on the offensive end from the perimeter, as 60 percent of his shots come from 3-point range. Green hits just 27.4 percent on pullup attempts, and last season, he compensated for the long-range shooting woes by attempting fewer shots, which caused his usage rate to dip to a career-low 14.6 percent.
Green's contributions on the defensive end last season made up for what he lacked on the offensive end, according to Popovich.
Green's plus-2.9 defensive rating in ESPN's real plus-minus (RPM) led all shooting guards, as he blocked 2.4 percent of opponents' 2-point attempts.