Illusions of victory faded quickly for the Warriors on Saturday night. The Nets, led by former Warriors star Kevin Durant, dominated Golden State on their way to an easy 134-117 victory.
The Nets’ combination of Durant, James Harden and Kyrie Irving proved overwhelming, but Golden State’s night could have been much worse. Forward Draymond Green went down holding his right knee late in the second quarter, and he was down on the floor for about a minute before walking into the locker room.
Turns out his knee just “locked up,” per Anthony Slater of The Athletic, and Green says he’ll be ready to play against the Cavaliers on Monday night.
Here’s part of what Slater wrote about the ordeal.
Green’s knee sporadically “locks up.” It’s something that has happened several times in his basketball life. One time in college, he did it, then “outrebounded Michigan’s entire team” a couple of days later.
“Sometimes the soreness can linger for a couple days, sometimes it goes away after 15 minutes,” Green said.
The Athletic
Green’s a unique basketball player, and his knee situation is, as far as I can tell, unique as well. As in I’ve never heard of it. But Green played his normal minutes in the second half, so there’s no reason to doubt him.
The game was lost well before Green’s knee acted up, anyway. Golden State allowed the Nets to make a 15-4 run at the end of a competitive first quarter and Brooklyn never looked back.
And another note: each team played without a center on Saturday night, but the Warriors definitely need their injured big men, James Wiseman and Kevon Looney, to return. Green is playing center without them, and the Warriors want to keep his knee in good shape. That’s hard to do while playing center with a fast-paced, center-less group.
Wiseman will be back soon, perhaps in time for the Cavaliers game. Golden State simply lost to a better opponent on Saturday, so they”ll try to get back on track as the new week starts, trying once again to build momentum and better playoff position.
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