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The Vertical’s Adrian Wojnarowski reports that the Golden State Warriors and Kevin Durant’s “inner-circle” fear the superstar forward is out “months, not weeks,” after suffering what was initially diagnosed as a hyperextended left knee on Tuesday night in Washington DC:

The Golden State Warriors are bracing for the possibility that All-Star forward Kevin Durant could be lost for the rest of the regular season – or perhaps longer – with a left knee injury, league sources told The Vertical.

Durant underwent an MRI late Tuesday night to survey the knee damage and team officials and members of Durant’s inner circle were expressing fear early Wednesday morning that the severity of Durant’s injury could preclude a return to the Warriors lineup before the start of the Western Conference playoffs in six weeks, league sources told The Vertical.

Some close to Durant feared the damage could sideline him even longer, league sources said.

That’s a pretty huge Woj bomb in the very early hours of Wednesday morning. And it’s awful news for the Warriors if the report is accurate (as Woj’s reports usually are). Woj added that the Warriors are expected to make a public announcement with more details on the injury later today.

ESPN’s Marc Stein reported a couple hours earlier that the Warriors were planning to sign 36-year-old forward Matt Barnes following the Durant injury, which seemed to indicate that Durant would at least miss multiple weeks:

As Anthony Slater — Warriors beat writer for the San Jose Mercury News — notes, the NBA playoffs are six weeks away, and the beginning of the Western Conference Finals are roughly 2.5 months away:

So, if Durant is able to return within the next 2-2.5 months at full health, this injury may ultimately not matter too much for the Warriors. They’re 50-10 right now, up four games on the San Antonio Spurs for the West’s No. 1 seed, and they would be clear favorites over any team in the first two rounds of the playoffs, with or without Durant.

But what if Durant is still out — or not quite himself — when the Western Conference Finals arrive? Well, that would greatly hurt Golden State’s chances at a title, but they would still have a decent shot. It would just be much, much more challenging to beat the Spurs or Cavs that way.

[Adrian Wojnarowski on Twitter]

About Matt Clapp

Matt is an editor at The Comeback. He attended Colorado State University, wishes he was Saved by the Bell's Zack Morris, and idolizes Larry David. And loves pizza and dogs because obviously.

He can be followed on Twitter at @Matt2Clapp (also @TheBlogfines for Cubs/MLB tweets and @DaBearNecess for Bears/NFL tweets), and can be reached by email at mclapp@thecomeback.com.

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