The Golden State Warriors fear that 8x All-Star Kevin Durant will miss the remainder of the regular season after suffering a knee injury on Tuesday versus the Washington Wizards. The Vertical‘s Adrian Wojnarowski reports.
Kevin Durant went down just at the end of the first minute of the first quarter against Washington, teammate Zaza Pachulia lost his balance and fell onto Durant’s left knee. The Warriors have called it a “hyperextended” knee, but his return has no set time yet. Some team officials have feared that his return could possibly be set just before the Western Conference playoffs begin. Others have concern that his return could take even longer.
Durant has been the Warriors’ leading scorer (25.3) all while leading them to the best record in the NBA (50-10). It will be a major setback for the Warriors trying to hold onto their # 1 seed in the West (San Antonio 4 GB) with him out.
After going into immediate panic mode, Golden State has signed, the now 2nd active SF to their roster, 14-year veteran Matt Barnes. It’s been 9 years since Barnes was a member of his former team, the Golden State Warriors, he’ll have a very big welcoming on Thursday vs the Chicago Bulls; where he’s expected to make make his debut with the Warriors this season.
Durant underwent an MRI on Tuesday and Golden State is expected to make an announcement on Wednesday to figure out how severe the injury is and how soon Durant can expect to be back.
