Golden State Warriors: 5 Keys To Surviving Kevin Durant Injury

In the wake of a Kevin Durant injury, here’s what the Golden State Warriors need to do to survive his expected absence of at least four weeks.

Tuesday night in Washington, the Golden State Warriors were dealt a potentially devastating blow on a first quarter play that ended in a Kevin Durant injury. When Wizards center Marcin Gortat threw Zaza Pachulia to the ground, he fell backward into KD’s knee, which bent in a way knees aren’t supposed to bend.

Warriors fans braced for the worst possible news, but the eventual diagnosis after an MRI was as close to a “best-case scenario” as they could hope for: Though KD suffered a Grade 2 MCL sprain and tibial bone bruise in his knee, he would be re-evaluated in four weeks.

That timetable, assuming he’s healthy enough to return at the end of the four weeks, would put him back on the court with about two weeks of regular season action left. That’s not a lot of time to shake off a month’s worth of rust, especially with the playoffs looming, but the Dubs will take what they can get at this point.

The question is, how do the Warriors survive the next month (at least) without the guy who’s been their best player in 2016-17? And how do Golden State’s title hopes fare in the wake of a Kevin Durant injury?

Here’s a look at five keys for this championship-caliber team to keep its season on track.