Manu Ginobili’s Nose Busted Up by Dirk Nowitzki’s Elbow

Spurs guard Manu Ginobili was caught with a flailing elbow by Dirk Nowitzki during the third quarter of Friday night’s playoff game. Dirk was driving to the basket from the corner when Ginobili tried to reach for a steal. Because Manu was leaning in, his nose got hit by Dirk’s elbow resulting in this ugly picture. Here’s a before and after of Manu’s nose courtesy of ESPN:

As you can see, the upper part of Ginobili’s nose had shifted to his left and it seemed to be clearly broken. Manu also had massive bleeding from the inside of the nose, yet he still managed to return after missing about five minutes in the third quarter. I don’t know if Ginobili will be wearing a mask for Game 4, but I’m guessing this will be a minor concern moving forward in the series. Here are a few more pics of Manu Ginobili’s broken nose:

Photo Credit: Getty Images

UPDATE: Ginobili did indeed break his nose in the game, X-rays later confirmed. He’ll also have a CT scan at which time the Spurs will have more info on his status. What a baller.