Draymond Green says that Durant’s knee injury won’t affect the Warriors. After being hounded by reporters, he said that they wouldn’t need any more motivation and that Durant’s injury wouldn’t affect how the warriors would play in the 6 or more weeks the player would be absent. It is said that the only time Warriors should start to worry only when playoffs start.
How the team will deal
It is feared that Durant won’t be able to play during the playoffs, but some are saying that he won’t be able to get his mojo back in time if he does. Last season, the Warriors blew a 3-1 lead on the Cavaliers in the NBA Finals, so the team will be under heavy scrutiny for this season, and now that they’re about to have the best record in the league, they’ll be under scrutiny once again. Durant’s knee injury has changed a lot of fan’s perspective and thoughts on the new situation, but the team is keeping their heads high and hoping that the former NBA MVP will be back soon and help them win their second championship in three years.
The injury
On March 1st, Kevin Durant suffered an awkward injury at his game against the Golden State Warriors. Zaza Pachulia and Durant collided, ending with Zaza falling onto Durant. Durant had to have an MRI while his team waited, and obviously, he couldn’t play as he had a grade 2 MCL sprain and tibial bone bruise. He would be off the team for an indefinite amount of time, and while surgery hasn’t been mentioned, it is pretty much worst case scenario for the player and the team.
Now what?
People are trying to decide whether the Warriors will be able to play like they did before they had Durant, and the short answer is no, they won’t be able to. The long answer is this: the net rating for the team after Durant’s knee injury went down to a dismal minus-5.1.
Durant’s replacement, Matt Barnes, scores an average 7ppg while the former averages 26ppg. Another reason the team won’t be the same during the player's absence is the fact that he is one of the most selfless people on the game, wanting to help his teammate score instead of himself. Even though Draymond Green says Durant’s knee injury won’t affect the Warriors, it is quite obvious that it will, and not in a good way.