Written by Ethan Sherwood Strauss at ESPN.com
Golden State Warriors star Kevin Durant underwent an MRI after suffering a hyperextended left knee in the first quarter of Tuesday night’s 112-108 loss to the Washington Wizards.
The Warriors are hopeful about the results of Durant’s MRI, a source told The Undefeated’s Mike Wise, but team officials have not received final results from the exam. Results of the MRI are expected to be announced Wednesday.
The injury occurred during a loose-ball situation in which Wizards center Marcin Gortat fouled Warriors center Zaza Pachulia, who then fell backward into Durant’s leg less than a minute into Tuesday’s matchup. Durant jumped away from Pachulia’s contact, hopping while holding his left leg.
Durant proceeded to play the next two possessions before asking Warriors coach Steve Kerr to call timeout with 10:26 remaining in the quarter. After meeting with trainers, Durant, who was grimacing and holding his left leg, headed to the locker room and did not return.
Durant took only one shot, which he missed, and left with zero points — ending a streak of 562 regular-season games (653 including the postseason) in which he scored at least 10 points.
“I’m always concerned about any injury, because you never know how bad it’s going to be,” Kerr said, “so we’ll just wait and see and keep our fingers crossed.”
Warriors forward Draymond Green said he was “just really hoping that it was a bone bruise.”
In the wake of Durant’s injury, the Warriors agreed to a deal with veteran swingman Matt Barnes, he confirmed to ESPN.
Durant, the 2013-14 NBA MVP for the Oklahoma City Thunder and a four-time NBA scoring champion, entered Tuesday averaging Warriors team highs of 25.8 points and 8.4 rebounds per game, along with 4.9 assists. Golden State came in with a league-best 50-9 record after a win at Philadelphia on Monday night.
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