Kevin Durant is out for at least a month with a Grade 2 MCL sprain and a tibial bone bruise, but Stephen Curry and the Golden State Warriors aren’t fazed.
Curry expects the Dubs—owners of the best record in the NBA—to finish the season strong even with their leading scorer sidelined.
Steph Curry's reaction to the Kevin Durant injury? 'We'll be fine': https://t.co/1k70US3IN2
— USA TODAY Sports NBA (@usatodaynba) March 2, 2017
There’s relief in the Bay Area that KD’s injury isn’t as severe as initially feared.
Per USA Today:
“Anytime you have a guy go down, knowing how tough KD is when he knows he can’t play or stay in the game, you have him in your thoughts,” Curry said. “Definitely there was a sense of relief that he’ll be able to come back at some point down the stretch of the season, and obviously our job now is to stay being us.”
The hard part is that Durant was part of the Warriors’ top-four lineups, according to stats from NBA.com. What’s more, the Warriors’ offensive rating (points per 100 possessions) was 116.9 with Durant on the court and 107.4 with him off of it.
“It’s good news on one hand because it looked bad, the way it had kind of bent,” Curry said. “We’ll be fine, finish out however long he’s out, just next man up mentality but obviously it’ll be tough to replace a guy like KD.”
