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DAVIDZALUBOWSKI—THEASSOCIATEDPRESS The Golden State Warriors' Kevin Durant, right, will miss at least a month, likely more, with a knee injury that was called a Grade 2MCL sprain and tibial bone bruise. ByAnthonySlater BayAreaNewsGroup CHICAGO TheMRIresultsforKevin Durant's left knee dropped into in- boxes early Wednesday morning, landing more softly than initially feared: Grade 2 MCL sprain, tibial bone bruise, re-evaluated in four weeks. Durant isn't likely to return after just a month. The Golden State War- riors will be careful with their star forward, who has never dealt with a serious knee injury before. But barring a setback or rehab snag, his season isn't over. The play- offs begin in six weeks. The second round is about eight weeks away. A potential West Finals is 10 weeks down the road. The NBA Finals are three months out. Durant is still very much in the future postseason plans. But in the immediate, the War- riors must adjust to life without their 7-foot, shot-blocking, 27-point per game tarantula. How will they deal with his absence and what must they focus on during the season's fi- nal 22 games? The top seed is top priority. That was true before Durant's injury and that is more true now. Only one team lingers as a legitimate threat to the No. 1 seed in the playoffs: the San An- tonio Spurs, at 45-13 and four games back of the 50-10 Warriors. Houston, the West's third seed, and Cleveland, the East's top seed, are both eight games behind. So Golden State shouldn't drop more than one spot out West and aren't in any legitimate danger of losing home court in a potential NBA Fi- nals. But if they're hopped by San Antonio, the Warriors risk sending themselves down a much more dan- gerous playoff path. If they hold onto the top seed, Golden State will be rewarded with a sub-.500 team in the first round. Maybe it's a young and overwhelmed Nuggets team, currently in the eighth spot, just happy to be there. Or the thin, disappointing Blazers. Or the most intriguing option: a tumbling, NBA Warriors'Durantoutindefinitely Starforwardwillmissat least a month, probably more, with knee injury Staff Report RED BLUFF Three boys and four girls from the Red Bluff Spartans soccer teams were named this week to the Eastern Athletic-Sac River League All-League teams for 2017. Forward Alejandro Alvarez, a se- nior, was named to the all-league boys team with junior forward Sal- vadore Santoyo and senior defender Jose Montoya receiving honorable mentions. For the girls, defender Rosy Alfaro, a senior, and junior Lexi De La Rosa, who played defender and sweeper, were named to the all- league girls team. Midfielder Ka- rissa Mena, a junior, and goalkeeper Grace Thornton, a senior, received honorable mentions. On the year, Alvarez had 15 goals on 29 shots, with 13 assists and 64 steals. He was fourth in the league in points, with 43, fifth in goals and tied for fourth in assists. Alfaro had six goals on 50 shots, with two assists for the year. De La Rosa had two assists on the year. The Spartans boys finished the season at 3-6-1 in league play for fourth place. The Lady Spartans fin- ished 2-5-3, also for fourth place. Both teams fell in the opening round of the playoffs to the West Valley Eagles, the boys 5-0 and the girls 1-0. The Pleasant Valley Vikings beat the Chico Panthers 4-2 in Saturday's boys championship game. The Lady Vikings beat the Lady Panthers 2-0 in Saturday's girls championship. SOCCER SPARTANS LAND ON ALL-LEAGUE TEAMS Red Bluff has 3 boys, 4 girls picked for 2017 honor Red Bluff's Rosy Alfaro, le in white, is seen in action against Foothill on Feb. 8. DN FILE PHOTOS Red Bluff's Lexi De La Rosa, 23, is seen in action against Corning on Dec. 20. By Anne M. Peterson The Associated Press The theme for Major League Soccer this season is 22 in 22, as the league embarks on its 22nd year with 22 teams — including two new teams in the Atlanta United and Minnesota United. The theme could just as eas- ily be expansion, expansion, ex- pansion. Launched with 10 teams in 1996, MLS has plans to expand to 28 teams in the coming years. The replacement for the defunct Chivas USA, Los Angeles FC, joins the league next season. It is hoped that a long-anticipated Miami franchise, an effort led by David Beckham, will materi- alize as the league's 24th team. There were 12 bids submit- ted earlier this year for the fi- nal four teams. In a preseason interview with The Associated Press, Commissioner Don Gar- ber said a decision about two of the teams could come by the end of this year and they could be- gin play in 2020, while the final two will be announced some- time thereafter. "I think it's fair to say that this year and the last number of years we've been very focused on strategically growing the league and celebrating new markets coming in and building a fan base, helping to create this soc- cer nation that we've been so fo- cused on," Garber said. "And this year is probably no different. SOCCER MLS touts 22 teams in 22 years this season By Doug Ferguson The Associated Press MEXICO CITY Golf's two govern- ing bodies released a draft of mod- ern rules on Wednesday aimed at bringing common sense to what can be a complicated sport. The Royal & Ancient Golf Club and the U.S. Golf Association spent more than five years try- ing to simplify the Rules of Golf without stripping the centuries- old game of its traditions and fun- damentals of fair play. The result figures to be the most comprehen- sive overhaul since the first set of rules was published in 1744. But in this case, the Rules of Golf actually shrunk. The proposal, which now faces six months of public feedback, re- duces the number of rules from 34 to 24. In many cases, penalties have been rescinded. Players no longer will be assessed a one-shot pen- alty if their golf ball accidentally moves, if their club touches the ground while in a hazard or even if a putt strikes a flagstick that is not being tended. Remember when Jeff Maggert's shot from a fairway bunker car- omed off the lip and hit him in the chest? That cost him a two-shot penalty in the 2003 Masters. Un- der the proposed rules, it wouldn't be a penalty. "The primary objective was, 'How do we make the rules eas- ier to understand and easier to apply around the world,'" said Thomas Pagel, the USGA's senior director of rules and amateur sta- tus. "I think what you'll see is that part of this process is to evaluate all the outcomes and identify out- comes that are more reasonable and common-sense based." Rory McIlroy has been in- formed of the changes and liked what he heard. "I think golf's emphasis on the rules can sometimes turn people away from it," McIlroy said. "To modernize and make it simple is a good thing. With what's hap- pened in the last couple of years, with some rulings and high-pro- file things that have happened at crucial stages in tournaments, people who look at that and might want to get into the game say: 'You know what? It's too compli- cated.' "Making them more modern to move with the times is good." Depending on the six-month public comment period, the pro- posal would be finalized in 2018 and become effective in 2019. One of the proposed rules would penalize caddies who stand behind their players until right before the shot, to help them with alignment. That is most prom- inent on the LPGA Tour. If the modern rules are adopted, cad- dies would have to move as soon as their players take their stances. "This is one we stepped back and said, 'Aligning yourself is just fundamental to playing the game,'" Pagel said. "It's not that caddies can no longer help the player. But when a player goes to set up to the ball, that challenge is the player's." USGA Golf has modern set of new play rules Red Bluff's Alejandro Alvarez, 8, is seen in action against Corning on Dec. 20. MLS PAGE 4 WARRIORS PAGE 4 SPORTS » redbluffdailynews.com Thursday, March 2, 2017 MORE AT FACEBOOK.COM/RBDAILYNEWS AND TWITTER.COM/REDBLUFFNEWS B1