Kevin Durant Injury 'Worse Than Expected', Will Miss Games 3 And 4

The Golden State Warriors will have to continue to navigate the Portland Trail Blazers in the Western Conference finals without Kevin Durant after general manager Bob Myers revealed on NBCS that the small forward will not travel to Portland for Game 3 and 4. He has failed to recover from a right calf strain he suffered in Game 5 against the Houston Rockets in the second round of the playoffs.

Durant was evaluated ahead of Game 2 against the Trail Blazers at Oracle Arena on Thursday night and Steve Kerr admitted after the game that the injury was worse than first expected. Initially, after fears of an Achilles injury was dismissed, it was expected to be a short recovery period for the calf injury, but now it remains to be seen if he plays in the series at all.

Kerr said the team did not have to make any “mental adjustments” to play without the two-time NBA Finals MVP. The Warriors have now played three games without Durant and have won all of them, which included Game 6 against the Rockets in Houston.

“No mental adjustment, you just play,” Kerr said in his post-Game 2 press conference talking about the absence of Durant. “You go out there what you have and this our third game without him and so we are just trying to hold down the fort.”

“You know hopefully he continues to progress and he has made progress but it’s a little more serious than we thought at the beginning and so we will see where it all goes,” he added. “He is in there all day long getting treatment. He’s done a great job of committing himself to that process and hopefully he will be back at some point.”

Klay Thompson also admitted that the team misses Durant but understands that injuries are part of the game. The shooting guard, however, was clear the Warriors are going to definitely need the small forward back in the team if they are going to complete the 3-peat.

Meanwhile, Kerr also provided an update on DeMarcus Cousins, who has been with a quad injury suffered early in Game 2 against the Los Angeles Clippers in the first round of the Western Conference playoffs. The news is not good with regard to the big center too, with the head coach saying he is not close to making a comeback, but revealed that he has stepped up in his rehabilitation process with on-court drills.