Los Angeles—Golden state star Kevin Durant has been ruled out of Tuesday’s first game of the NBA Western Conference finals and coach Steve Kerr said he could miss more of the best-of-seven series against the Portland Trail Blazers.
Durant was listed as out for Tuesday’s game in Oakland, California, on the Warriors’ injury list, and Kerr told reporters that he did not know when Durant would return from a right calf strain.
“Everyone needs to slow down a little bit on the Kevin stuff,” Kerr said after the team practiced on Monday. “He hasn’t even stepped on the floor yet. We’ve tried to remain somewhat vague because the injury is open-ended in terms of how much time he will need to recover.”
Kerr said he thought the uncertainty surrounding Durant’s return had led some to think he’d be back sooner than he will.
“He still has pain,” Kerr said. “So there’s time ahead of him on the rehab process.”
Durant was averaging a league-best 34.2 points in the playoffs when he was injured in the third quarter of Golden State’s 104-99 victory over Houston in game five of their second-round series last Wednesday.
The Warriors went on to seal the series with a game-six win without Durant as an MRI showed the injury was no worse than the strain originally diagnosed.
