Coming into last night's game, the Warriors were in a place that they had never been in before during their 5 year finals streak: down 3-1. Going into a crucial game 5 on the road, a loss would result in the end of a dynasty, while a win would extend the chance of winning a 4th finals. Before the game, it was reported that superstar forward Kevin Durant would be returning from a calf injury that had held out for over a month. There was hope for Warriors fans.
For the first quarter, the Warriors were playing well. They started off shooting an absurd 5 for 5 and KD looked like he never was injured, scoring 11 points in his first 12 minutes back. Then, midway through the second quarter, disaster struck. When pivoting his foot, Durant went down all at once, and had to be helped off the floor. He was later ruled out for the rest of the game. The Warriors still preserved their lead, and in the fourth quarter, things heated up. Steph Curry and Klay Thompson hit back to back threes to put Golden State up by 3 with less than a minute left. After Kyle Lowry missed a championship winning corner three, the Warriors left the court victorious.
But, within their clutch victory, there was a large loss in the form of Kevin Durant. After the game, KD was reported to have suffered a torn achilles, and would be out for the rest of the season and much longer. In the short term, the Warriors will have to go back to their streaky play that they had without KD, and hope that it is good enough to get them two wins in a row.
For the long term, this injury changes things for KD, the Warriors, and the NBA as a whole. Durant is expected to opt out of his player option this summer and has been closely tied to the Knicks. While it is unlikely, there is a chance that he opts into his player option in order to heal his achilles, and then test the free agency waters ext season once he is healthy. Teams will still not hesitate to offer him a max deal this summer, but other players might hesitate to join forces with him. For example, Kyrie Irving, somebody who has been rumored to want to play with Durant, might join another star elsewhere as KD could be out for the entirety of the 2019-2020 NBA season. This also throws a wrench in the plans for entire teams. The Clippers might choose to pursue someone else given Durant's injury, and the Knicks could stop all trade discussions for Anthony Davis knowing that Durant won't play with him for a year.
This injury could not have come at a worse time for all the parties in play(except maybe the Raptors). KD has suffered one of the worst possible injuries smack in the middle of his prime, the Warriors will lose arguably the best player in the league, and the NBA is devoid of one of the most fun to watch players in history.
Comentários