OAKLAND, United States (AFP) — Golden State star forward Kevin Durant will miss game four of the NBA Finals on Friday with a right calf injury, Warriors coach Steve Kerr said Thursday, but guard Klay Thompson is expected to return.
Both players were absent in Wednesday’s 123-109 loss to Toronto, which game the Raptors a 2-1 edge in the best-of-seven championship series entering game four Friday in Oakland.
Two-time NBA Finals Most Valuable Player Durant, the team’s leading playoff scorer with 32.5 points a game, did not have a setback, Kerr said, but trainers will not clear him for scrimmage work before Friday or Saturday.
“There was no setback,” Kerr aid. “I was hoping today would be the day when he could get out on the floor. It’s not going to be today. It’s going to be probably the next couple of days. That’s the next step.
“So the hope would be that he could still make it back at the end of the series.”
Durant has missed a month with the injury, the Warriors going 6-2 without him in the playoffs.
“He will continue to get treatment and get on the court and continue to work but will be unavailable for game four,” Kerr said. “It’s just about when the training staff tells me he’s ready.”
The Warriors, whose latest loss came despite a career playoff high 47 points from Stephen Curry, will welcome back five-time All-Star guard Thompson, who sat out Wednesday with a strained left hamstring, ending a career run of 120 consecutive playoff games without a miss.
“Klay will plan on playing tomorrow,” Kerr said. “We expect him to play barring something unforseen. He has continued to improve.”
The injury-hit defending NBA champions might even get back forward Kevon Looney, who had been declared out for the remainder of the best-of-seven series with a chest injury, according to Kerr.
“We’re gathering information, second opinion-type thing,” Kerr said. “It’s sort of an open question. At this point there’s not anything to report. We’re looking at all our options and his options.”
Day-to-day focus
It leaves the Warriors with a mentality of daily having to look around and prepare to play with whoever is healthy.
“It’s a tricky situation because it is the finals and I know Klay was dying and begging to play,’ Curry said. “Hopefully he’s that much better coming into game four, won’t have to worry about compensating for his hamstring.”
The Warriors have focused on what they can control.
“The way we’ve handled it to date is what’s the focus today, who is able to play, who is not, and how are we going to give our best effort,” Curry said.
“Knowing (Durant) is not playing game four, we know what our rotations are going to be, everybody will lock in and go win that game. And we hope at some point he will be back, and when he does we’ll be able to transition.”
Durant ‘a tough blow’
Durant’s absence hits the team on defensive schemes as well as in scoring.
“He’s an All-World athlete who makes your team better, so it’s a tough blow,” Curry said. “But we still have a great opportunity in front of us and we’re going to lay it all out there on the line to try to get it done.”
Green said the loss of Durant and Thompson was a huge defensive blow in addition to robbing Golden State of more than 50 points a game.
“We got to get stops and adding Klay back to the fold is always going to make a difference, the way Klay pressures the ball, the way he flies around on the defensive end.”
Even a sub-par Durant would force Toronto to widen its defensive coverage.
“He’ll come back and draw a lot of attention, so it’ll open the floor up more,” Green said. “He’s way better than a lot of people when he’s 100 percent so if he’s 75 percent, he’ll still probably be better than a lot of people.”
© Agence France-Presse
