Star forward hyperextends left knee
WASHINGTON — Even after Kevin Durant injured his left knee and departed only 93 seconds in, and even after Golden State trailed by as many as 19 points, and even after Stephen Curry’s drought from behind the arc stretched to 14 attempts over two games, the NBA-best Warriors had a pretty good chance to take the lead late.
That’s because Curry caught the Washington Wizards trying to made a defensive switch, so he let fly on a potential go-ahead 3-pointer from 31 feet away with less than 10 seconds left Tuesday night and the Warriors trailing by two.
“A shot I normally make, so I was confident,” Curry said. “You live for those moments. You live with the result.” He missed. Markieff Morris grabbed the rebound, then made a pair of free throws with 3.7 seconds remaining, capping his 22-point night and clinching Washington’s 112-108 victory despite Curry’s 25 points.
Durant hyperextended his knee when teammate Zaza Pachulia fell into him after getting pushed by Washington center Marcin Gortat. Golden State’s leading scorer and rebounder — who exited with zero points, ending his streak of 562 regular-season games with at least 10 — will have an MRI exam Wednesday.
“I’m always concerned about any injury, because you never know how bad it’s going to be,” Warriors coach Steve Kerr said, “so we’ll just wait and see and keep our fingers crossed.”
Draymond Green, who had 14 NBA points and 14 assists, said he was “just really hoping that it was a bone bruise.”
Washington’s Scott Brooks, who coached Durant when both were with Oklahoma City, said: “Hopefully it’s nothing serious. Prayers go to him.”
■ Thunder 109, Jazz 106 — At Oklahoma City, Russell Westbrook scored 12 of his 43 points in the final 2:05 to help the Oklahoma City win its fourth straight. Westbrook also had 11 rebounds and 10 assists for his 30th triple-double of the season, and fourth straight.
■ Grizzlies 130, Suns 112 — At Memphis, Tenn., Mike Conley scored 29 points and Marc Gasol added 28 while making all five of his 3-point shots as Memphis handed Phoenix its third straight loss. The 130 points were a season high for the Grizzlies.
■ Hornets 109, Lakers 104 — At Los Angeles, Kemba Walker scored 30 points and hit the go-ahead 3-pointer with 1:55 to play, and Charlotte won for just the third time in 16 games. Frank Kaminsky had 24 points and 12 rebounds for the Hornets.
■ Pistons 120, Trail Blazers 113, OT — At Auburn Hills, Mich., Marcus Morris scored a career-high 37 points, including Detroit’s first seven in overtime, and the Pistons rallied from a 13-point, third-quarter deficit to beat Portland.
■ Nuggets 125, Bulls 107 — At Chicago, Nikola Jokic had 19 points, 16 rebounds and 10 assists for his third triple-double of the season, and Denver snapped Chicago’s four-game winning streak. Danilo Gallinari scored 22 points for the Nuggets.