'Good Chance' Kevin Durant Will Play Game 5, No Setbacks, Kerr Says

Kevin Durant has been ruled out of Game 4 of the NBA Finals after failing to recover sufficiently from the right calf strain to take part in a planned scrimmage on Thursday. Steve Kerr confirmed that the training staff deemed the small forward unfit to take the practice court, which makes him ineligible for the game on Friday.

The Warriors forward has not played since sustaining the injury during Game 5 of the Western Conference semifinals against Houston Rockets. He was expected to return midway through the finals, but the injury seems to be worse than first expected.

Kerr, however, is confident that Durant will play during the series and admitted that there is a “good chance” the two-time NBA Finals MVP will return for Game 5 or Game 6. The Warriors currently trail Toronto Raptors 2-1 after losing their first home game of the series on Wednesday.

“I do think he’ll play in the series,” Kerr told KNBR. “I think there’s a good chance that he plays in Game 5 or 6. This whole thing has been so difficult to message… the injury itself, there’s a lot of grey area. There’s no easy timeline… when it’s healthy, it’s healthy.”

The Warriors head coach made it clear that there were no setbacks and revealed that the small forward court will return to the court in the next few days. He also apologized for giving misinformation about Durant’s potential comeback admitting that it was difficult to predict.

"There was no setback. I was hoping today would be the day he'd get back on the floor. It's not going to be today. It's going to be tomorrow or next couple days,” Kerr said, via The Athletic’s Antony Slater.

Kerr also revealed that the team have taken a second opinion with regard to Durant’s injury after the first opinion indicated that it would be risky to make a comeback during the playoffs. The second opinion, however, has offered them hope but the team is clear that no risks will be taken when it comes to aggravating the injury.

“We got a second opinion. The first opinion we got is that this would make no sense for him to come back,” Kerr added during his appearance on KNBR. The second opinion is… there’s a possibility. There is a chance he could come back… We don’t want to put him or his future at risk. We’ll weigh everything and go from there.”

There was positive news on the Klay Thompson front with Kerr indicating that the shooting guard will be available for Game 4. He suffered a minor hamstring injury in Game 2 and sat out Game 3, which the Warriors lost 123-109.