Harrison Barnes took a scary fall in the second quarter of the Golden State Warriors' 94-82 loss to the San Antonio Spurs, but he returned after halftime. Barnes appeared to fall face first onto the court and was on the floor for an extended period before going back to the locker room to be examined. After the game, a team spokesman confirmed that Barnes was cleared during halftime to return to the game.
Barnes returned to play all 12 minutes in the third quarter but was taken out of the game after suffering from a headache. After taking such a hard fall, it was surprising to see Barnes play at all in the second half, let alone an entire quarter.
When pressed with questions during his postgame press conference, Warriors' coach Mark Jackson said that he "wasn't sure whether it was a concussion or not" that Barnes had suffered after falling, and that to the "best of his knowledge" Barnes cleared all tests during halftime.
Jackson was adamant that the team has proven they do not put players in harms way and praised the "great staff of doctors and great staff of trainers" that they trust with their players.
When it came time to call it a night for Barnes, Jackson said he could tell that Barnes "wasn't feeling right." "He said he needed a minute," Jackson told media "but I saw it in his eyes. It wasn't worth it." With that, Barnes ended his night after putting up a valiant effort to play for a team that Jackson said he "couldn't be prouder of" and he wanted to thank them "from the bottom of his heart."
Barnes finished the game with eight points on 4-of-10 shooting and four rebounds in just over 30 minutes of playing time.
(Quotes taken from NBA.com's postgame stream)
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