The Golden State Warriors dodged a bullet. After a frightful sequence sent Kevin Durant limping to the locker room, an MRI revealed that he has a Grade 2 MCL strain, the team announced. He will be re-evaluated in a month, and the Warriors say there is a chance he will return to the court before the regular season ends.
Kevin Durant’s injury is a sprained MCL that will sideline him at least 4 weeks
The Warriors got good news after there were fears that Durant might not return this season.
Bill Streicher-USA TODAY Sports
Durant suffered the injury in the opening minutes of the Warriors’ loss to the Wizards on Tuesday. Zaza Pachulia tumbled to the floor after battling for a rebound and rolled into Durant’s left leg. He immediately left the game in pain and did not return to the floor.
The severity of Durant’s knee injury was unknown until Wednesday morning, with a report suggesting the team was “fearful” of a recovery timetable stretching into the playoffs or further. While it’s still possible (and perhaps likely) that Durant won’t be himself before the postseason begins in mid-April, they at least won’t need to stare down the possibility of Durant missing the entire season.
This could have been a huge loss
Durant had seamlessly fit into the Warriors’ machine, sacrificing shots while scoring at an even more efficient rate. He led the team in scoring at 25.3 points per game while taking two and a half fewer shots than his final year in Oklahoma City. Durant has also improved his defense, leading the team in rebounding and blocked shots.
The Warriors won 73 games without Durant last season, but this isn’t the same team. Golden State no longer has Harrison Barnes to replace Durant in the lineup, nor do they have Andrew Bogut up front. Andre Iguodala, who is in line for more playing time with Durant absent, is a year older and has been less effective on both ends. The same goes for backup guard Shaun Livingston. In the interim, Golden State has to rely on less seasoned players like JaVale McGee, Patrick McCaw, James Michael McAdoo, and Ian Clark to fill minutes with KD sidelined.
Fortunately, the former league MVP’s injury is not as serious as once believed.
Golden State addresses its shortcoming on the wing by signing former Warriors forward Matt Barnes, late of the Kings. Barnes, who turns 37 in March, remains a decent player that was let go only because the Kings were rebuilding following the DeMarcus Cousins trade. However, he is shooting just 33 percent from three-point range and provides little else on offense besides cutting.
Barnes is a tough-nosed defender, but is not the rim protector or rebounder Durant has become.
As long as the Warriors have Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson, they’ll be able to score points. But Durant’s absence will hurt their league-best defense and cause rotation questions the Warriors cannot easily solve. The Warriors’ vaunted “Death Lineup” works in part because Durant can handle power forward responsibilities.
They will miss that, at least until his return.
This shouldn’t cost them too much in the standings
Even with Durant’s injury, the Warriors should be able to retain the Western Conference’s No.1 seed.
Golden State is four games ahead of the closest contender and half of the team’s remaining games are against sub-.500 opponents. KD or no KD, the Warriors are an incredibly well-oiled machine that will continue to thrive with Barnes or Andre Iguodala in the starting lineup.
Still, the West is unpredictable from No. 4 up, and a rough stretch without their All-Star forward could cost Golden State its standing atop the conference. Even worse, it could turn Kevin Durant’s return in the playoffs into a first-round series against his old teammate, Russell Westbrook.
Luck is no longer on the Warriors’ side
The Durant injury news is reminiscent of Curry’s nagging knee issue that persisted throughout last year’s playoffs. Curry returned after sitting out six games, but he only showed flashes of his unanimous-MVP self thereafter. The Warriors will hope that Durant picks up where he left off once he returns.
Of course, the Warriors also benefited from good injury fortune the year before when the Cavaliers lost Kevin Love for the playoffs and Kyrie Irving in Game 1 of the NBA Finals to injury. The Warriors were not happy when some suggested they got lucky to win the championship that year. You have to wonder what they’re thinking now.
Durant has also been a victim of bad injury luck in the past. A Russell Westbrook collision with Patrick Beverley doomed Oklahoma City’s chances in 2013, while a Serge Ibaka ailment put the Thunder in an early hole against the Spurs in 2014. In 2015, Durant himself broke his foot and the Thunder missed the playoffs.
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