Kevin Durant injured his knee when the Brooklyn Nets won the Miami Heat (102-101). He will be out for at least two weeks with a ligament strain in his right knee. The Nets announced this after an investigation on Monday.
It happened just before the end of the third quarter, when heat forward Jimmy Butler fell on Durant’s right knee on a drive. The 34-year-old then tried for a few seconds, but then went into the dressing room and didn’t come back.
It’s not Durant’s first knee injury, who tore the medial ligament in his left knee in a game against New Orleans almost exactly a year ago. At that time, KD was out for almost two months, and the Nets lost 17 of 22 games during this time.
Even if a timeline of two weeks was officially announced, the Nets apparently expect a longer break this time too. ESPN according to the franchise calculates a break of a month rather than two weeks.
The two-time Finals MVP also suffered a similar injury when he was a Warriors, and it was his left knee back then. “He’s fine,” Irving said after the game. “The strength of our team is that everyone can step into the breach for the other.” Joe Harris was a little more pessimistic: “This is a setback for us. (…) He is our offensive fixed point and an elite protector of the ring this season.”
Irving, meanwhile, suspected that Durant got away with the scare again. “Plays like that scare you. If someone gets out of control, anything can happen. I’m glad he spends so much time in the weight room and prepares his body for something like that. I think his body saved him from that today that something worse is about to happen.”
Durant has had an outstanding season so far and is still promising in the MVP race. The forward has only missed one game so far and has 29.7 points, 6.7 rebounds and 5.3 assists with odds of 56 percent from the field and 37.6 percent from the three-point line.
Before his injury, Durant had scored 17 points, overtaking Dominique Wilkins on the all-time scoring list. KD is now 14th with Oscar Robertson in front of him just 27 points up.
Kevin Durant: His stats with the Brooklyn Nets
|
Saison |
games / minutes |
Points |
Rebounds |
Assists |
FG |
3FG |
|
2019/20 |
Didn’t play a game due to injury |
– |
– |
– |
– |
– |
|
2020/21 |
35 / 33,1 |
26,9 |
7,1 |
5,6 |
53,7 |
45,0 |
|
2021/22 |
55 / 37,2 |
29,9 |
7,4 |
6,4 |
51,8 |
38,3 |
|
2022/23 |
39 / 36,0 |
29,7 |
6,7 |
5,3 |
55,9 |
37,6 |
|
In total |
129 / 35,7 |
29,0 |
7,1 |
5,8 |
53,5 |
40,0 |