NBA Finals: Kevin Durant Leaves Practice Early, Game 5 Return Possible?

Kevin Durant was finally given the all-clear to practice on Sunday, one month after he suffered the right calf injury against the Houston Rockets in the Western Conference semifinals. The Golden State Warriors small forward has been officially listed as questionable for Game 5 of the NBA Finals, which the Toronto Raptors lead 3-1.

The Warriors breezed through the Western Conference finals against Portland Trail Blazers 4-0 without Durant, but have struggled in his absence against Raptors. They won Game 2, but dropped both their home games and are now staring at defeat in their quest for a 3-peat.

Durant was expected to return earlier, but his injury is far worse than expected and head coach Steve Kerr will be hoping the forward can return to the court after just one practice session. The team seems relatively confident about his return for Game 5 in Toronto on Monday but according to ESPN’s Nick Friedell, it was not much of a practice.

“If KD got some work in today against the rest of his teammates — it wasn’t much. He was one of the first players back in the locker room and the Warriors weren’t on the floor very long to begin with,” Friedell wrote.

Durant was expected to take part in a scrimmage Thursday, but it was postponed after he was unable to take the court and his Sunday session, according to Friedell, did not last too long as he was the first player back in the locker room. The forward also left the arena with assistant coach Mike Brown and he still had an ice pack attached to his right calf – the Achilles area.

Game 5 is likely to be Durant’s last chance to make an impact in the NBA Finals with Raptors looking favorites to close out the series at the Scotiabank Arena on Monday night. But even if Durant returns, it is unclear if he can find his best form having spent a month on the sidelines, but Kerr has to put everything on the line to ensure they take it back to the Oracle Arena for Game 6.