Kevin Durant hurt his knee on Tuesday very early in the Warriors’ loss (!) to the Wizards. The team did an MRI a little while later and will announce the results on Wednesday. (UPDATE: They did, and it’s not as bad as feared).
The Warriors learned Kevin Durant’s injury fate on 3-1
Good morning. We have that and more in Wednesday’s NBA newsletter.
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But the early signs weren’t great: Woj reports that KD’s inner circle is worried this is a major injury that will end his season, and the Warriors are concerned enough that they decided to waive Jose Calderon (who they promised to sign after the Lakers waived him) so that they can add a wing, Matt Barnes.
The Warriors are still poised to be incredible without Durant: They won 73 games without him last year. But the hits are stacking up a bit. Cleveland added Deron Williams and Andrew Bogut this week, the Clippers got Chris Paul back early for the stretch run, and the Spurs are continuing to quietly rip through the schedule.
Not a very good couple of days for the Warriors. Not at all.
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Scores Galore ...
GSW 108, WAS 112
POR 113, DET 120 (OT)
DEN 125, CHI 107
PHX 112, MEM 130
UTA 106, OKC 109
CHA 109, LAL 104
... And Plenty More
Lee Jenkins feature on James Harden. Proceed directly to the link. Do not pass Go, do not collect $200.
Paul Flannery and I discuss what isn’t working with Boogie Cousins and Anthony Davis in New Orleans. Cousins is suspended for the next game because he got hit with another technical foul on Sunday. On the other hand, Cousins was at Peak Boogie on a float with Anthony Davis at Zulu on Mardi Gras.
Important: Migos invited Russell Westbrook on stage for “Bad and Boujee” on Monday night and then crowned him the MVP. On Tuesday, Westbrook had his biggest MVP statement game of the season, a 43-11-10 performance in a huge win over a very good Jazz team.
Vince Carter has absolutely had it up to here with Devin Booker and probably all youngsters. That earned an ejection. The Grizzlies-Suns beef is so bizarre, and it’s literally impossible to be on Phoenix’s side after what Booker said about Troy Daniels a few weeks back. I’m not saying Booker had it coming, but ...
Things I did not know: Magic assistant GM Scott Perry is the son of Lowell Perry, a pioneering black coach in the NFL. Here’s a great Marc Spears piece on the Perrys.
It turns out that Academy Award winner Mahershala Ali from Moonlight was an East Bay high school basketball star and a scholarship player at St. Mary’s College.
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