Warriors' DeMarcus Cousins Suffers Left Quadriceps Muscle Tear
OAKLAND (CBS SF/AP) -- Warriors starting center DeMarcus Cousins has torn his left quadriceps muscle, is out indefinitely and may miss the team's remaining playoff games, team officials said Tuesday.
"The injury will sideline Cousins indefinitely and he will begin rehabilitation immediately," the team said in a release. "Updates on his progress will be provided as appropriate."
Cousins underwent an MRI early Tuesday and doctors discovered the tear. He was injured in the first quarter of Monday night's 135-131 Game 2 loss to the Los Angeles Clippers in the first round of the playoffs.
"There's a pretty significant quad injury," coach Steve Kerr said after the game. "He's going to be out for, I'll just say a while because I think it's not clear right now how long he'll be out. It's significant."
This is a terrible blow for Cousins in just his second career playoff game following a nine-year wait. The big man returned in January from a nearly year-long absence following surgery for a torn left Achilles tendon.
He hobbled to the locker room at the 8:09 mark of the first quarter. At the 8 1/2-minute mark Cousins stole the ball from Patrick Beverley in the back court and tried to retrieve the loose ball when went down in front of the Golden State bench and grabbed at his left quad.
"We'll rally behind him, tell him it's far from the end of the world, tell him he has so much great basketball ahead of him," Klay Thompson said. "He believes that. ... He'll bounce back. I know he will. He's a fighter."
Cousins had two points, two rebounds and an assist in just less than 4 minutes. He fouled out of Saturday's 121-104 Game 1 win with nine points, nine rebounds and four assists in 21 minutes.
Last summer, Cousins came to the Warriors seeking a chance, even though he was working back from the season-ending surgery after injuring the Achilles while with New Orleans. Cousins joined the two-time defending champions for $5.3 million, a low-risk move for Golden State general manager Bob Myers that worked out well for everyone.
"We'll miss his low-post dominance, of course. We'll miss his screen-setting, his energy out there," Thompson said. "I'm hoping for a speedy recovery because we really need him if we want to make this run."
It's not the way the fans hoped the post season would go. At Johnny's Pub in Newark, the fans were feeling down, but not out.
"To see that, as a Warriors fan, it was not a good feeling," said Angela Gonzales. "It's heartbreaking when you lose one of your best players, but hopefully they can rally around that. They've overcome obstacles before.
