Golden State’s 112-108 loss to the Washington Wizards back in February was marred by the injury that Kevin Durant suffered early in the game. The newest Warrior was diagnosed with an MCL sprain and bone bruise.He was injured when Zaza Pachulia fell backward onto his leg while going for a rebound and KD immediately limped away in apparent pain after the contact.Initially, Oakland officials feared the worst and thought they would be without their All-Star small forward for significant time.Now, Warriors brass is hopeful that he might see the floor before the playoffs get going. The former Longhorn will not be available for tonight’s Western Conference heavyweight matchup between Golden State and the San Antonio Spurs.Doctors are saying that he will be evaluated again in 7-10 days and they will make further judgements at that point. Last week he was taking jumpshots on the floor before a game in Dallas and the team is taking some of his restrictions off.

Team management says that they will begin testing Durant’s movement through different methods described in a press release.

The release says: “At this point, he is being incorporated into non-contact basketball drills - shooting, running and jumping - and the plan is to intensify his level of movement over the next several days, which will include more explosive cutting and lateral maneuvers.”

Matt Barnes has been signed to fill the hole at small forward for the squad until the Durantula heals up and has performed admirably during his return to the Bay Area. Make no mistake, the Dubs would like their starting small forward back in the fold sooner than later.

Having a healthy KD will be key in getting by tough teams like the San Antonio Spurs and the Houston Rockets in a seven game series. Beating one of these teams once is much different than taking four from them in less than two weeks.

This entire outcome is better than losing the former MVP for the remainder of the regular season and Golden State finds themselves with some injury luck on their hands again. Now the question is will the team be able to carry their positive momentum when Durant returns?

Having all their weapons on hand is going to be critical if they get to June without any more mishaps. Right now, it looks like the Warriors are in pole position for another title run later this year.