The Warriors know life won’t be easy without Kevin Durant. They also know the injury prognosis for their leading scorer could have been worse.
Durant will be re-evaluated in four weeks after sustaining a Grade 2 medial collateral ligament sprain in his left knee and tibial bone bruise in the Warriors’ loss at the Wizards on Tuesday night.
Thursday night against the Bulls at the United Center is their first full game after an MRI exam confirmed Durant’s injury. The Warriors haven’t lost two straight regular-season games since April 2015.
"Obviously, it was good news on one hand because it looked really bad the way it kind of bent and we didn’t know exactly what was going to happen or what the prognosis was going to be," Warriors star Stephen Curry said. "Obviously, you feel for him and want him to get healthy as fast as possible but not rush it because we have a long journey ahead of us going into the playoffs. We’ll be fine. Finish out however long he’s out. Next man up mentality but obviously it will be tough to replace a guy like KD."
The Bulls will return at least Paul Zipser and possibly Michael Carter-Williams from injury for the matchup Thursday. Their defense has been poor lately, and the Warriors possess the league’s top-ranked offense.
"We have to get back in transition," coach Fred Hoiberg said. "That’s where it starts."
kcjohnson@chicagotribune.com
Twitter @kcjhoop
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