Foot injury hampering Hughes

He hasn’t missed any games, but he hasn’t done much, either.

SAN ANTONIO (AP) — Larry Hughes stood calmly behind a podium Saturday, showing no signs of pain. Deep down, though, he’s hurting.

Standing still with a painful foot injury is one thing. Try covering Tony Parker.

Hughes didn’t do that, or much of anything else, effectively in Game 1 of the NBA finals. And the Cavaliers don’t know how much they’re going to get from their starting point guard for the rest of the series.

But Hughes vows to keep trying, even as people wonder if the best place for him is the bench.

“I won’t give up,” he said. “You have to tell me I can’t play, tell me I’m really hurting the team.”

Hughes has been battling plantar fasciitis, which causes him pain along the bottom of his left foot, since the Eastern Conference finals. Though he hasn’t missed any games, he’s hardly supplied any offense on a team that’s desperate to find some from players other than LeBron James.

Small contribution

Hughes hasn’t reached double figures since he was hurt in Game 3 of the series against the Pistons, and was held to two points on 1-of-5 shooting in 23 minutes during the Cavs’ 85-76 loss to the San Antonio Spurs Thursday.

“I feel I’ve been giving the team all I can give as far as just trying to be out there on the court, not trying to do too much,” Hughes said. “I think I need to be a little more aggressive, but the same time I really don’t want to chance it and hurt the team. It’s kind of a balance, trying to get my job done and also knowing there’s a lot of things that I can’t do.”

His problems weren’t restricted to the offensive end. He was unable to keep up with the speedy Parker, who led the Spurs with 27 points.

Hughes hasn’t been able to practice much since he was hurt, but he said he was feeling much better than he was during the conference finals. He felt good enough to skip a cortisone shot before Game 1 and has been trying to get by on rest, ice and Tylenol.

And if he can play, his teammates want him to try.

“I know that Larry, if Larry’s 70 percent, he’s still a great basketball player and still capable of doing a lot of things,” reserve guard Daniel Gibson said. “And I know that on this stage, he wants to be out here playing because it’s a stage he’s worked for his entire career to get to.”