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Doctor discusses Melton's ACL injury and predicts potential return timeline for Warriors

De'Anthony Melton will miss Friday night's Warriors vs. Memphis Grizzlies game with a left MCL sprain, and his status after that remains unknown.

The 26-year-old Warriors guard will undergo further testing, the team announced Thursday, to help determine the severity of the injury he sustained in the second quarter of Golden State's win over the Dallas Mavericks on Tuesday night.

While Dub Nation anxiously awaits the determining details, Stanford Medicine’s Dr. Geoffrey Abrams, MD, spoke to NBC Sports Bay Area and broke down some of the possible outcomes of the injury and a potential timeline for recovery.

"ACL sprains can come in a lot of variety," Dr. Abrams said. "Obviously not having seen the MRI or been part of his care, it could be anything from a mild sprain with just a little inflammation around the ligament, which is one of the main ligaments around the knee. For very minor sprains of the ligament, where there's no major structural issues, that can be really just a few weeks or so.

"For higher grade tears where there is concern that there was structural integrity, that really goes down a different road and can be many weeks to the possibility of even surgery if there's significant structural issues with that ligament."

Melton, in his first season with the Warriors, is averaging 10.3 points on 40.7-percent shooting from the field and 37.1 percent from 3-point range, with 3.3 rebounds and 2.8 assists in six games.

He was inserted into coach Steve Kerr's starting lineup over the last two games in the shooting guard spot, filling in nicely alongside Steph Curry, averaging 16.5 points on 47.8-percent shooting from the field and 50 percent from downtown, with seven rebounds, three assists and two steals in 26.6 minutes.

Dr. Abrams further explained the rehab timeline options that are dependent on the severity of Melton's injury.

"The ACL, which is the ligament we're talking about, is really important for cutting and pivoting activity, so if you are performing that like you are in basketball all the time, that ligament is one of the main supports of the knee when you're doing that," he said. "So if the ligament is injured, it can lead to instability of the knee, such as you feel your knee shifting underneath you a little bit if that ligament is compromised.

"Now in minor sprains of the ACL, there should not be any significant structural compromise of the knee so I'd be surprised if it's just a minor sprain that he would be feeling that. But there's a whole rehabilitation timeline to go through in terms of getting the muscles around the knee strong and getting that ligament healed."

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