NBA scores 2017: Wizards get win over Warriors, Kevin Durant injures knee

Kevin Durant’s injury status still remains unclear.

Mar 1, 2017, 1:00 PM UTC

NBA: Golden State Warriors at Washington Wizards

Geoff Burke-USA TODAY Sports

If you need a great regular season game in 2017, the Washington Wizards will be involved. On Feb. 7 we got Cleveland Cavaliers-Wizards, which was one of the greatest regular season games of all time. On Feb. 28, we got Golden State Warriors-Wizards, and while the game wasn’t as much of a barn burner as the game against the Cavs, it still showed that the Wizards can hang with the best in the league. While the Cavaliers are still the top team in the Eastern Conference, it’s becoming a bit unclear who is No. 2 between the Boston Celtics, Toronto Raptors, and Wizards. But the Wizards continue to make their case.

You could argue that the Wizards got lucky as they played the Warriors on the second night of a back-to-back. But here is the thing — the Warriors are 9-2 on the second night of back-to-backs. And if we’re being honest, the Warriors rarely lose. So any time you can get a win against them is a good thing.

You could also argue they got to play the Warriors without Kevin Durant. This is true. Durant unfortunately left the game early in the first quarter due to a knee injury. In an odd play, Zaza Pachulia was battling for a rebound with Marcin Gortat and fell back onto Durant’s leg. The initial diagnosis was a hyperextended left knee. Durant underwent an MRI on Tuesday night and results of that test are still unknown. Best-case scenario is that it is a slight hyperextension and Durant won’t miss much time.

No, it’s not panic time for the Warriors in terms of their play the last two games. They might be in a slump, but they will get themselves out of it as they always do. The bigger concern here is the uncertainty of Durant’s injury.

As for the Wizards, they jumped out to a large lead in the first quarter and forced the Warriors to play catch-up for the entire first half. The Wizards put up 40 points in the first quarter while shooting 62.5 percent from the field.

The Warriors eventually made their run in this game, as you would expect, but the Wizards were able to hold them off late, which is what you want to see if you’re a Wizards fan. The Wizards then went 10-of-10 from the free throw line in the fourth quarter, which also played a large part in coming away with the win.

John Wall was huge for the Wizards, finishing with 19 assists on the night, which tied a career high for him.

Russell Westbrook now has 30 triple-doubles

Russell Westbrook is having a ridiculous season and there are no signs of him slowing down. Coming out of the All-Star break, he recorded three straight triple-doubles, which gets him to a total of 30 on the season. He also did it while carrying the Oklahoma City Thunder to victory in crunch time on Tuesday.

Remember when LeBron James said the Cavaliers needed to add players?

Well, they have. The most recent addition is former Warriors player Andrew Bogut. Bogut was traded to the Philadelphia 76ers at the trade deadline from the Dallas Mavericks, but then negotiated a buyout with the team. The Cavs also added Kyle Korver, Derrick Williams, and Deron Williams. On the flip side, all they’ve given up is Mike Dunleavy and Chris Andersen. At some point, they’ll also add J.R. Smith and Kevin Love back into the rotation once they get healthy. The Cavaliers definitely have their eyes set on June and it looks like LeBron got exactly what he wanted.