Warriors taking right, cautious path with Kevin Durant injury
Kevin Durant will not play in at least Game 1 of the Western Conference Finals, as the Golden State Warriors push away the idea of rushing him back.
The way his injury initially looked in Game 5 against the Houston Rockets, it seemed possible the Golden State Warriors would be without Kevin Durant for the duration of the playoffs. But it was only a strained right calf, and while he’s likely to return sometime in the Western Conference Finals ESPN’s Ramona Shelburne has reported Durant will miss Game 1 against the Portland Trail Blazers Tuesday night.
Shelburne added that Durant will not be re-evaluated until Thursday, so he’s unlikely to play in Game 2 that night.
After Durant went down in Game 5 against the Rockets, the Warriors survived and won that game then went to Houston and closed out with a road win in Game 6. Stephen Curry went scoreless in the first half of Game 6, but scored an incredible 33 points in the second half. Klay Thompson also found his best form over the final two games of the Houston series, scoring 27 points in each while combining to go 12-for-23 from 3-point range.
Without Durant, the style the Warriors played prior to his arrival has been on better display. In particular, Curry has no need to defer and Thompson doesn’t have to be a third wheel fighting for whatever shots are left after Durant and Curry.
Portland is coming off a closely contested seven-game series against the Denver Nuggets. Key contributor Rodney Hood (16.2 points per game over the first six games against Denver) suffered a hyper-extended left knee in that Game 7 on Sunday, was not able to return. Golden State’s injured player is obviously more prominent, but any hit to the Trail Blazers depth is bad for the series’ underdog.
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The Trail Blazers would happily go back to Portland with a split of the first two games against Golden State. With Durant sidelined that challenge may actually be a little greater, then the Warriors may get a well-rested and healthy superstar in time to make it a very short series.