Kevin Durant could return Saturday against the Pelicans

Kevin Durant is expected to return before the regular season was over, and now there’s an upcoming target for it to happen.

When Kevin Durant went down with a sprained MCL in his left knee and a bruised tibia on Fen. 28 against the Washington Wizards, things automatically turned grim for the Golden State Warriors. but they ran their winning streak to 11 in the home rematch against Washington on Sunday, the 17th straight game Durant has missed.

Earlier on Sunday, Anthony Slater of the San Jose Mercury News reported Durant would miss at leas three more games. That included Sunday night’s game of course, and this week’s back-to-back against the Minnesota Timberwolves and the Phoenix Suns on Tuesday and Wednesday night.

Durant has been ramping up his activity level as he recovers, with a return before the end of the regular season looking fairly certain. Barring any setbacks, Durant’s return to action is in line to happen soon.

Durant may return on Saturday night against the New Orleans Pelicans, which backs up a previously reported return window of sometime over the Warriors’ final three home games. They will finish the regular season with two more games at Oracle Arena, April 10 against the Utah Jazz and April 12 against the Los Angeles Lakers, so those could be options for Durant’s comeback game too.

Durant will be on a minutes restriction when he returns, so getting a couple regular season games under his belt stands to be very important. The Warriors are likely to cruise through a first round playoff series, against whoever they play, so a limit on Durant’s minutes could extend into that for a few games.

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Making sure Durant is at full strength when playoff opponents get tougher has to be the top priority for Steve Kerr. A few games to work out some kinks can be expected, but Durant’s immediate results won’t be a predictor for how he’ll do when it matters most.