Kevin Durant ripped off 11 points in an impressive first quarter of Monday night’s Game 5 in Toronto, burying three three-pointers and switching capably on defense and looking maybe a little bit stiff but otherwise really goddamn impressive. Then, in the second quarter, with the Warriors up five points, Durant tried to string together a couple moves on Serge Ibaka on the perimeter, and something went bad in his right* leg:
Durant had to be helped off the court. Raptors fans, perhaps having lost their minds at the swing in fortune, briefly cheered excitedly at Durant’s apparent injury. Kyle Lowry and several other Raptors players motioned them to shut up, and they did, and moments later the arena carried the familiar sound of polite applause as Durant left the floor.
The Warriors looked like a different team—their normal selves, the world destroyers of old —with Durant on the floor alongside Steph Curry, Klay Thompson, Draymond Green, and Kevon Looney. This re-injury pretty much settles the question of whether the Warriors were being overly cautious to hold Durant out of Game 4, and also it just plain sucks.
UPDATE: This doesn’t look real good.