Golden State Warriors head coach Steve Kerr has confirmed that big man Kevon Looney will miss the remainder of the NBA Finals against the Toronto Raptors:
Kevin Durant will not play in Game 3. "He's ramping up his exercise routines," Steve Kerr said. Klay Thompson is questionable. Andre Iguodala is good to go. Kevon Looney out for the series.
— Anthony Slater (@anthonyVslater) June 4, 2019
The Warriors announced Monday that Looney was out indefinitely with a non-displaced first costal cartilage fracture. The 23-year-old suffered the injury in Game 2 when he was trucked by Kawhi Leonard on the Raptors star's drive to the basket midway through the first quarter.
While Looney was in a lot of pain after the game, he initially thought he may be able to play in Game 3 on Wednesday. However, further testing showed the extent of the injury, unfortunately knocking him out for the rest of the series.
Looney had been playing an important role off the bench for Golden State. He stepped up big after Kevin Durant got hurt against the Houston Rockets, and he continued his strong play throughout the Western Conference Finals against the Portland Trail Blazers. Thanks to this injury, the Warriors will likely rely on DeMarcus Cousins even more after his strong Game 2.
Looney averaged 6.3 points, 5.2 rebounds and 1.5 assists in 18.5 minutes per game in the regular season. He put up 7.2 points and 4.8 rebounds per game in the postseason, with his playing time jumping to 20.3 minutes per contest.
The young big man is set to be an unrestricted free agent this summer. Going into free agency with this injury isn't ideal, but the Warriors would love to keep Looney no matter what, and this issue shouldn't affect his market too much.
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