Kevin Durant was forced to sit out games after a MCL injury
Brooklyn Nets star Kevin Durant is out indefinitely with a left medial collateral ligament sprain in an incident that occurred in the second quarter of Saturday’s 120-105 home victory against the New Orleans Pelicans, as announced by the team on Sunday.
"Following an MRI this morning, Kevin Durant was diagnosed with a sprained medial collateral of the left knee," the Nets said.
ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski reported that the Nets expect Durant, 33, to be out four to six weeks.
However, the team said in a statement that Durant is expected to return to full strength following a period of rehabilitation and updates regarding his return will be provided as appropriate.
The injury happened when Pelican rookie Herbert Jones was driving through the paint and as Bruce Brown was defending , he backpedaled into Durant's left knee.
Durant was visibly in pain but stayed in the game and with 5:38 remaining, Durant signaled for a timeout and immediately headed back to the locker room.
He was then seen walking with a limp in the 4th quarter as he left the arena.
Durant has been in MVP form for Brooklyn this year, averaging 29.3 points per game with 7.4 rebounds and 5.8 assists while shooting 52% from the field which have pushed Brooklyn firmly into contention at the top of the Eastern Conference standings as they are currently in second place trailing Chicago by half a game with 27 wins against 15 defeats.
Brooklyn’s big three has just been completed recently as the Nets have only just seen Kyrie Irving return on a part-time, road-only basis due to New York’s existing COVID-19 vaccine mandate and another superstar in James Harden has been averaging 27.2 points, 8.3 rebounds and 10.6 assists since Christmas after an individual slump.
Tags: #NBA, #injury, #KD