Golden State Warriors star Kevin Durant underwent an MRI after suffering a hyperextended left knee in the first quarter of Tuesday night’s 112-108 loss to the Washington Wizards. Results of the MRI won’t be revealed until Wednesday.
The injury occurred during a loose-ball situation in which Wizards center Marcin Gortat fouled Warriors center Zaza Pachulia, who then fell backward into Durant’s leg less than a minute into Tuesday’s matchup. Durant jumped away from Pachulia’s contact, hopping while holding his left leg.
Matt Barnes will sign a rest-of-the-season deal with Golden State in the wake of Kevin Durant’s left knee injury, the veteran swingman confirmed to ESPN.
Durant then proceeded to play the next two possessions of the game before asking Warriors coach Steve Kerr to call timeout with 10:26 remaining in the quarter. After meeting with trainers, Durant, who was grimacing and holding his left leg, headed to the locker room and did not return.
Durant took only one shot, which he missed, and left with zero points — ending a streak of 562 regular-season games (653 including the postseason) in which he scored at least 10 points.
“I’m always concerned about any injury, because you never know how bad it’s going to be,” Kerr said, “so we’ll just wait and see and keep our fingers crossed.”
Warriors forward Draymond Green said he was “just really hoping that it was a bone bruise.”
In the wake of Durant’s injury, the Warriors agreed to a deal with veteran swingman Matt Barnes, he confirmed to ESPN.
Durant, the 2014 NBA MVP for the Oklahoma City Thunder and a four-time NBA scoring champion, entered Tuesday averaging Warriors team highs of 25.8 points and 8.4 rebounds, along with 4.9 assists. Golden State came in with a league-best 50-9 record after a win at Philadelphia on Monday night.
This was Durant’s first game in the nation’s capital since signing with the Warriors; the Wizards — and their fans — had hoped to try to sign him as a free agent last offseason.
Washington’s Scott Brooks, who coached Durant when both were with Oklahoma City, said: “Hopefully it’s nothing serious. Prayers go to him.”
The last time Durant played in his hometown of Washington, while with Oklahoma City, he suffered a hamstring injury that forced him to miss six games.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Courtesy: ESPN.com
