Getty OAKLAND, CALIFORNIA - MAY 08: Kevin Durant #35 of the Golden State Warriors reacts after the Warriors scored a basket against the Houston Rockets during Game Five of the Western Conference Semifinals of the 2019 NBA Playoffs at ORACLE Arena on May 08, 2019 in Oakland, California.
Kevin Durant will sit his third straight game of the playoffs. Chris Haynes of Yahoo Sports tweeted that: “Golden State star Kevin Durant (calf strain) will not play in Game 2 of the WCF against Portland, league sources tell Yahoo Sports.”
The Warriors star exited Game 5 in the conference semifinals against the Rockets in the fourth quarter. After doctors confirmed it was a calf strain, he was ruled out for Game 6, as well as Tuesday night’s Game 1 of the conference finals against the Portland Trail Blazers.
Golden State star Kevin Durant (calf strain) will not play in Game 2 of the WCF against Portland, league sources tell Yahoo Sports.
Golden State leads the series 1-0 after a 116-94 rout in Oakland. He was diagnosed with a mild calf strain after an MRI, which projects to a seven to 10 day recovery period.
According to an interview with an orthopaedic surgeon by CBS Sports, Durant could return by Game 4 of this series.
Dr. Alan Beyer, an orthopedic surgeon and the executive medical director at the renowned Hoag Orthopedic Institute in Newport Beach, Ca., told CBS Sports on Thursday that a mild strain means “somewhere between a Grade 1 and Grade 2 strain, which is going to likely keep him out for two weeks in a best-case scenario…”
“…He’ll be getting daily physical therapy starting immediately, anti-inflammatories, ice, and then it’s just a matter of how it responds,” Dr. Beyer told CBS Sports. “His playing status will be all about how much the swelling reduces, and how well he’s able to forcibly contract the muscle, which is necessary to jump. He could feasibly get back by Game 4 against Portland or Denver if he pushed it, but now you’re risking making the injury a whole lot worse. So let’s talk about that aspect of it.
Ahead of Game 1 of the Western Conference Finals against the Portland Trail Blazers, Logan Murdock of NBC Sports BayArea (via Yahoo! Sports) revealed that Kerr said everyone needs to “slow down a little bit” on the subject of Durant.
“I think everyone needs to slow down a little bit on the Kevin stuff,” Kerr said Monday afternoon. “He hasn’t even stepped on the floor yet.”
The 10-time All-Star averaged 26 points per game during the regular season on 52 percent shooting overall (36 percent from 3). He also adds 6.4 rebounds and 5.9 assists per contest for the No. 1 seeded team in the Western Conference.
Game 2 will tip off Thursday at 9 p.m. EST on ESPN. The series heads to Oregon this Saturday.