The Golden State Warriors lost to the Washington Wizards in an entertaining down to the wire matchup that exposed more of the crunchtime issues Stephen Curry and company have faced all season. Curry and Klay Thompson struggled to a combined 14-40 shooting performance in the 112-108 loss. But make no mistake, the entire nation, be it Warriors fans or anyone else, is waiting on the news of one Kevin Durant.
Zaza Pachulia fell backwards from a Marcin Gortat push right into the knee of KD, causing it to buckle and just like that, suddenly the moment felt oh so familiar. Less than a year ago, Curry fell victim to the sweat laying loudly on the Toyota Center in Houston. He got up, just like Durant, and tried to play through the obvious pain. Like KD, Curry left to the locker room, at least visibly able to walk.
So now we wait for the MRI results. The Warriors will sign Jose Calderon then waive him to make room for OG We Believe member Matt Barnes. The move doesn’t necessarily signify the end of Durant’s 2017 season. Regardless of injury, seems like it’ll be at least a month, the need for a wing defender and ball-handler was always necessary. The glut of centers had as much to play into this as KD’s injury.
With Curry’s injury, the Warriors got just about the best possible news given the circumstance. They lost him for what was a winnable series without his scoring. He rushed back and was just good enough to push GSW over the top in the conference finals and to the brink in the NBA Finals. Simply put, however, he wasn’t himself or great enough for the Warriors to capture their second straight title.
This time around, the Warriors will hope for the same thing. They might lose Durant for a month, or two, or perhaps even three. But that still slates him for a return sometime around the Western Conference Finals or NBA Finals against LeBron James in the third chapter of the trilogy. A full ACL tear puts this the pressure right back on Curry to find the stratospheric level he reached last season.
There is a lot to parse out in the next few days. But right now, the championship might rest on the results of the MRI that will be revealed this afternoon. A day that will change the landscape of the 2016-17 NBA season forever.