Kevin Durant's hot start was cold comfort when the Oklahoma City star limped out at halftime Thursday of the Thunder's 114-109 NBA loss to Golden State.
Stephen Curry posted a game-high 34 points with nine assists, seven rebounds and four steals for Golden State. Six Warriors players scored in double figures as the team bounced back from a loss in Memphis on Tuesday that snapped their 16-game winning streak.
Reigning NBA Most Valuable Player Durant seemed determined to remind the league-leading Warriors they can't expect to have things their own way in the Western Conference when he scored 16 points in the first quarter.
He had poured in 30 -- connecting on 10 of 13 shots including five of six from three-point range -- when he stepped on Warriors forward Marreese Speights' foot while driving to the basket seconds before halftime and rolled his right ankle.
Durant, who was called for an offensive foul, went down, but eventually hobbled off the court under his own steam.
X-rays taken at the arena were negative and the team said he had a mild ankle sprain, but Durant did not return.
Durant has played in just eight games this season, making a belated debut this month after recovering from surgery to repair a broken bone in his right foot.
With Durant and Russell Westbrook both healthy, the Thunder had won seven straight.
Westbrook did what he could on Thursday with 33 points and eight assists in the setback.
Durant said he didn't think the sprain was serious, but "just wanted to be cautious" in the wake of his foot injury.
"I was a little nervous, but I knew when I got up and started walking it felt good," he said. "I just wanted to make sure with the X-rays everything was good."
He said it was too soon to tell how long he might be sidelined.
"I'm just going to take it one day at a time," he said. "Tomorrow morning I'll see how it reacts."
Source: AFP