On Tuesday night at the Verizon Center in Washington, the Wizards had one of the best performances of the season against the Golden State Warriors. The Wizards narrowly won the game by 112 to 108, but given that most people would have backed the Warriors to win this game I highly doubt the side from Washington will care that it was only a narrow win. Despite the clash between the two sides producing a very entertaining game, it was overshadowed by the early injury to Kevin Durant which could prove to be a big blow to the Warrior’s season.
Kevin Durant was forced off the court after only two minutes of play because of what appeared to be a hyperextension of his left knee. A potentially horrific injury but as with many injuries of this nature, there is no way of knowing how serious it is until the various necessary scans have taken place. Following the game, the Golden State Warriors confirmed that Durant would be undergoing an MRI scan as would be expected.
Without one of their key players in Kevin Durant , the Golden State Warriors found themselves 19 points down at half time to the Washington Wizards. But despite this below par first half performance the Warriors found themselves level heading into the 4th and final quarter with both sides having everything to play for towards the end of the game. The final few minutes of the game were incredibly tight but it was the Wizards who managed to put some daylight between the two sides after Otto Porter Jr drew a foul. He was then able to follow up by making two free throws with only 17 seconds remaining on the clock. Steph Curry was then unable to fight back for the Warriors as he failed to convert a three pointer. Following this Markieff Morris was able to finish the game in Washington’s favour as he sunk two more free throws.
This victory for the Washington Wizards meant that they were able to break their small yet unwanted 2 game losing streak and add to their now 35-23 record. Golden State on the other hand now find themselves with more losses this season then they racked up in the entirety of last season. Although this sounds like a pretty poor stat it’s important to respect that a 50-10 record is still pretty insane.
Following on from the game we have received more news on Kevin Durant’s injury and thankfully for Warrior’s fans it’s not as severe as many would have feared. Although Durant’s injury isn’t season-ending the MRI results were never going to make for good reading for anyone associated with the Warriors. On Wednesday 1st March the Golden State Warriors provided an update on Durant through their various social media streams, stating that Durant attended the MedStar Washington Hospital Centre in DC. From the MRI scan Warriors’ medical staff have deduced that Durant has suffered a grade 2 medial collateral ligament sprain and a tibial bone bruise. To most people that may as well be another language but the low down is that Durant has suffered ligament damage and a bruised shinbone.
Kevin Durant’s injury will definitely count him out of games in the near future but in their statement the Warriors refused to rule the player out of making a come back before the end of the regular season. Not good news for Durant and the Warriors but when you re-watch the way Zaza Pachulia fell only Durant’s leg it could have been a lot worse. No matter what team you support it’s never nice to see a player get injured and therefore hopefully Durant has a speedy recovery and we see him back on the court soon.
