Warriors' Eric Paschall exits with knee injury; status uncertain

SAN FRANCISCO -- Golden State Warriors forward Eric Paschall injured his right knee in Friday night's 106-102 victory over the New Orleans Pelicans after landing awkwardly following a collision with Pelicans guard JJ Redick.

The play occurred with 1 minute, 2 seconds left in the first quarter after Redick tried to deny Paschall the ball near the rim after a pass from the 3-point line from Warriors guard Jordan Poole. Paschall stayed in the game for a few more minutes but ultimately was taken out during the second quarter and didn't return.

It is unclear if the rookie will need an MRI on his knee.

"He's having his right knee evaluated," Warriors coach Steve Kerr said after the game. "I'm not sure [about an MRI]. He wasn't in the locker room. The training staff took him and he was getting it evaluated, so I don't know what that means."

Paschall, who is averaging 15.9 points and 5.0 rebounds per game, has also been dealing with a right hip injury over the past couple weeks, one that forced him to miss two games last week for a Warriors group that has been riddled with injuries all season.

Paschall, who was selected with the 41st pick in the second round of last summer's NBA draft, had been one of the Warriors' most consistent players before slowing down recently because of the hip injury.

Veteran forward Draymond Green believes that the latest setback might be a blessing in disguise for the 23-year-old as he continues to find his way in his first season in the league.

"He can really score the ball," Green said of Paschall. "The pressure that he puts on the defense getting downhill, if he's out some time, is something that we'll miss. But hopefully it's nothing serious, but honestly it may be a blessing if he has to miss a week or two. Things came at him really fast; all of sudden he's playing 36, 37 minutes as a rookie, carrying the scoring load with eight guys, playing more games than he's ever played, quicker than the games have ever come on his schedule, in a league that he's never played in.

"And he handled that well. But it may not be the worst thing he has to miss a week or two and just kind of get through the hip thing, kind of let all that stuff clear up and get back to where he was."

The Warriors' next game is Monday against the visiting Minnesota Timberwolves.