The San Antonio Spurs have managed to survive much of the season without the services of Kawhi Leonard but it'll be very difficult for them to do the same without LaMarcus Aldridge.

The big man suffered a knee injury in their loss to the Washington Wizards on Tuesday night and has been listed as questionable for their next encounter against the Oklahoma City Thunder.

Aldridge is the biggest reason why the Spurs haven't faltered in the absence of Leonard as he's been playing some of the best basketball of his career.

He leads the team in scoring this year and is averaging 23.2 points and 8.4 rebounds per game.

This production saw the former Portland Trail Blazers man rewarded with his sixth All-Star appearance last month.

With a tough schedule ahead as they seek to claim a playoff berth, a period on the sidelines for Aldridge would be a huge blow to San Antonio's hopes.

Veteran Manu Ginobili has expressed real concern at the possibility of having to play without the power forward and believes they'll struggle to win games if he's not in the lineup.

"Considering the way he’s been playing and our recent success in those games, we are at the point where if LaMarcus gets a cough, a cold, we are in deep trouble," Ginobili said, according to Tom Osborn of the San Antonio Express-News.

"Hopefully, it’s not serious because it’s going to be really tough to score without him and we have tough games against teams that need to win. We really need him."

At this stage, the Spurs are remaining coy on his status and have, as yet, not confirmed the results of the MRI scan he underwent after the defeat to the Wizards.

With Leonard playing just nine games this season, Aldridge has carried the load and much of the offence has run through him.

On Monday, he was named as the Western Conference Player of the Week as he helped them secure wins at a crucial time after they'd briefly dropped out of the playoff positions.

This was capped off by a career night against the Utah Jazz where he posted 45 points in a hard-fought overtime victory against their rivals for a postseason spot.

The only goal for the Spurs at this moment is to finish in the top eight, regardless of seeding.

"We are thinking about playoffs, not positioning," Ginobili said.

The Texas-based outfit currently sits sixth in the west with a 43-32 record but are just two games ahead of the Los Angeles Clippers in ninth.

They have just seven games remaining but they'll hope to have Aldridge back soon as they face difficult encounters against OKC, Houston Rockets and the Clippers in their next three games.

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