The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Knee injury sidelines Durant indefinitely
Warriors won’t rule out return by end of regular season.
OAKLAND, CALIF. — Kevin Durant is out for the immediate future with a knee injury, and that’s a huge blow on both ends of the floor for the playoff-bound, championship-chasing Golden State Warriors.
Stephen Curry and Co. will have to carry on without KD perhaps for the remainder of the regular season — and maybe longer.
Durant will be out indefinitely after he sprained the medial collateral ligament in his left knee and bruised a bone in his leg during Tuesday night’s loss at Washington, leaving the Warriors without their shot-blocking big man who also does it all on offense.
The NBA’s top team will push toward the playoffs without its leading scorer and rebounder. For March, at least.
The Warriors said Wednesday their medical staff hasn’t ruled out a return before the end of the regular season.
“At this time it’s just speculation to guess when that is,” general manager Bob Myers said in a conference call. “He’ll heal as his body heals. And when he’s healed and our doctors clear him and we feel like it’s safe, he’ll play. I want to know as much as you guys, but at this point the plan is just to re-evaluate him and see where he’s at in four weeks.”
The All-Star forward hyperextended his knee early in the Warriors’ 112-108 loss to the Wizards and later underwent an MRI, which revealed a Grade 2 — or moderate — sprain in the knee as well as a bruised tibia.
Durant is scheduled to be re-evaluated in four weeks, which would leave about two weeks in the regular season. He returned to the Bay Area on Wednesday and immediately began rehabilitation. The Warriors headed for Chicago to continue a stretch of eight games in 13 days with a cross-country trip. They return to Oakland for one game then a back-to-back at Minnesota and San Antonio on March 10-11.
On a Wizards possession less than a minute into the game, Washington center Marcin Gortat pushed Warriors center Zaza Pachulia, who fell into Durant’s left leg. While Myers only saw the play on TV, he said the team’s video staff might have other angles he can see — though there wasn’t immediate concern about the play being intentional.
“These things happen in sports,” Myers said. “Nobody’s raised that question on our side. I don’t know if it’s being raised outside of us. I spoke to Kevin a couple of times. Other than just being disappointed that he’s injured, nobody’s mentioned anything like that.”
The Warriors became the earliest team in NBA history to clinch a playoff berth when they beat the Nets on Saturday and are now focused on locking up the No. 1 seed in the Western Conference.
LeBron James, whose Cleveland team beat the Warriors in Game 7 for last year’s championship before Durant came from Oklahoma City, saw the injury.
“I hope it’s not serious,” James said. “We’ll see what happens.”
Durant leads the Warriors in scoring and rebounding with 25.3 points and 8.2 rebounds along with 4.8 assists in his first season with Golden State.