Warriors' Cousins 'unlikely' to return for playoffs; no surgery

Golden State Warriors center DeMarcus Cousins won't need surgery to repair a torn left quadriceps, but he's likely out for the rest of the postseason, head coach Steve Kerr told reporters Wednesday.

"Probably looking at a couple months' recovery, so it's unlikely," Kerr said. ."..There are occasions where that injury heals faster, so we're leaving the door open obviously.

"But more than anything, I'm just crushed for DeMarcus. He's been waiting his whole career for this, and the second game he goes down after putting all that work in to recover from the Achilles."

Cousins was injured while trying to run down a loose ball 3 1/2 minutes into Monday's 135-131 loss to the Clippers, in which Golden State blew a 31-point lead. Trying to save a deflected ball before it went out of bounds, Cousins stumbled and went down without being touched, and he immediately grabbed his left quad. He walked off and to the locker room under his own power.

The team announced on Tuesday that an MRI revealed a torn quad muscle.

Cousins, 28, made his Warriors debut in mid-January after recuperating from a ruptured left Achilles tendon he suffered playing for the New Orleans Pelicans against the Houston Rockets on Jan. 26, 2018.

Cousins joined the Warriors on a one-year, $5.3 million deal in free agency.

Game 3 of the playoff series is Thursday night in Los Angeles.

--Field Level Media