Kevin Durant will probably not be back until Game 4
By Dave Daniels
Kevin Durant will be out of the lineup for a hot minute, and that puts the Golden State Warriors in a tough spot.
The Golden State Warriors will have to pull it together to be competitive in the 2019 NBA Finals, and they must channel the chemistry they had in their last series against the Houston Rockets to have success.
The Toronto Raptors are a different kind of team, though, and they will not go quietly into the night. They definitely won’t vanish without a fight.
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— Dave Daniels (@AllDave_AllDay) May 31, 2019
The Warriors won’t have two-time Finals MVP Kevin Durant back again until at least Game 3 and probably Game 4 according to Yahoo Sports, and that will put immense pressure on Stephen Curry, Draymond Green, and Klay Thompson to deliver until their bonus superstar comes back to help them. Durant strained his calf in Game 5 of the Western Conference semifinals, and at the time the team was just happy that he hadn’t torn his Achilles tendon. That would’ve put him out for the year.
Golden State clearly expects Durant to miss the next game at least, and that could be crucial based on what happened during their 118-109 loss in Game 1. It’s not a likely scenario, but there is now a possibility that KD will come back just when the Warriors are on the verge of getting swept.
It’s a tricky situation because he’s a superstar who demands the ball. What if he lies to the coaches and the doctors about feeling pain in his calf? What if he throws off the balance that Curry, Thompson, and Green found in the last series. By a lot of accounts, Durant already has one foot out of the door, and so how would those other players handle it if he calls for the ball on national TV? Also, If they rush him back before he’s ready, then it could be disastrous for their chances to repeat as champions.
Durant traveled with the team to Toronto; however, head coach Steve Kerr has said that the forward won’t play until he goes through a full practice.
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Durant is averaging 34.2 points per game this postseason, and the Warriors are a different team with him in the lineup. They are definitely a more talented squad, but they might have to get used to playing without him anyway. Will they decide to start that process now? We’ll have to see which way they decide to roll the dice.