Getty Golden State Warriors center DeMarcus Cousins
The Golden State Warriors may have just suffered a major setback in Game 2 of the opening round of the 2019 NBA Playoffs. During the first quarter of their game against the Los Angeles Clippers, center DeMarcus Cousins was chasing down a pass and went down grabbing his leg.
After remaining on the ground for a short period, he got up slowly and limped back to the locker room. Here’s a look at the play, courtesy of NBC Sports Bay Area.
Boogie went back to the locker room after this play with apparent leg injury.
Cousins was grabbing his upper leg, which is good news on some level, as there was some immediate concern that it could be his knee potentially. Obviously, the extent of the injury is unknown, but the Warriors big man seemed to be in obvious pain while walking down the tunnel towards the locker room.
Gieson Cacho of the Mercury News also caught a photo of Cousins holding his leg after the play.
Here’s a shot from @jcfphotog of DeMarcus Cousins holding his left thigh after chasing after a ball in the first quarter of the #GSWvsLAC first round NBA Playoff game.
DeMarcus Cousins Injury Update
Cousins has been diagnosed with a left quad injury and will not return to Monday’s game against the Clippers. He’s expected to get an MRI on his leg, but no additional information beyond that has been revealed on the broadcast.
Shortly after this news came to light, ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski reported that Cousins will undergo the MRI on his quad Tuesday to find out the extent of the injury.
We’ll update with any additional news which comes to light on Cousins, but it’s unlikely there’ll be much else prior to the end of the game.
DeMarcus Cousins’ Previous Injury
Cousins returned to the court this season just after the midway point for the Warriors, missing the first 45 games due to an injury suffered the year prior. The 28-year-old tore his Achilles tendon after playing 48 games of the 2017-18 season with the New Orleans Pelicans. On the play in which his previous injury occurred, he was trying to grab a rebound after his miss and immediately grabbed his left foot.
After the injury diagnoses came to light, Cousins then entered free agency with a number of questions about his future and recovery from injury. In turn, this led to the Warriors using their mid-level exception to land the All-Star center on a one-year deal worth $5.3 million, as Ray Ratto of NBC Sports detailed.
The Warriors will likely use a mixture of Andrew Bogut, who was signed late in the year, and Kevon Looney, who filled in for Cousins earlier this season if the center is forced to miss time. It was Bogut who was on the floor at the start of the second quarter on Monday against the Clippers.
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