The Golden State Warriors suffered a huge blow earlier this week when Kevin Durant was diagnosed with a knee injury. The small forward is expected to miss about a month while recovering from the injury.
The Warriors have a solid lead for the first seed in the Western Conference, an important position even for one of the most talented teams of all time. With the Spurs still keeping pace, there was enough concern for the Warriors to make a last-minute signing of Matt Barnes to take a spot in the rotation.
But according to Warriors point guard Stephen Curry, there’s no reason to worry. Following via Sam Amick of USA Today Sports:
“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.”
“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.”
That’s some brash confidence from Curry, which is par for the course for the two-time MVP.
Without Durant, the Warriors are effectively the same team that went to back-to-back Finals and came close to a repeat before blowing a 3-1 lead. Of course, they have less depth but the core of the team is largely the same.
Nevertheless, the Warriors have taken the season to adjust to the addition of Durant. They have done a phenomenal job of completing this but it has had the secondary consequence of relying too much on the former Thunder forward. The Warriors are 9.4 points per 100 possessions better with Durant on the floor.
Durant’s injury has already affected the Warriors who lost to the Wizards (in the game in which KD was injured) and the Bulls in back-to-back contests. It was the first time the Dubs have lost two straight games since April 2015. Curry has been subpar in recent games, hitting 10 of 27 shots and only 2 of 11 threes against the Bulls after he made those comments.
The Warriors will largely be fine in the regular season as they await Kevin Durant’s return. But the question is how they will play as Durant plays himself into shape during the postseason if he does not come back at 100 percent.
