Golden State Warriors star Kevin Durant will miss at least game one of the NBA Western Conference finals against Portland with a right calf strain (AFP Photo/EZRA SHAW) Los Angeles (AFP) - 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.<doc-sep>If the Golden State Warriors want to win three straight championships they’ll have to continue battling without Kevin Durant. He should return to the hardwood soon enough, but don’t expect to see him at Oracle Arena this week. Golden State eliminated Houston from the playoffs with an impressive victory on Friday. After going scoreless in the first half, Steph Curry put together a second-half performance for the ages. The Warriors didn’t just advance to the next round in convincing fashion, they proved they are still contenders even with Durant off the floor. Next up for Golden State is a showdown with Portland. Damian Lillard and CJ McCollum led the Trail Blazers in their Game 7 win over the Denver Nuggets. The defending champions will be heavily favored to win the Western Conference Finals. However, the Warriors will begin the series without Durant. According to ESPN writer Ramona Shelburne, Durant is out for at least Game 1 due to his calf injury. He is also “unlikely” to play in Game 2 for the Warriors. Kevin Durant is out for at least Game 1 of the WCF, source tells ESPN. He’s not being re-evaluated until Thursday so it’s “unlikely “ he plays Game 2 either. — Ramona Shelburne (@ramonashelburne) May 13, 2019 With Durant still nursing his injury for this week, the pressure is on Curry and Klay Thompson to carry the offense. On the other side, the Trail Blazers have the opportunity to potentially steal a game on the road because of Durant’s absence. We’ll have a better understanding of how much additional time Durant will miss when he gets re-evaluated on Thursday.<doc-sep>In a poll we ran immediately after the Spurs season ended, 28% of SpursNation chose the Milwaukee Bucks, with Coach Mike Budenholzer, as the team they now wanted to win the NBA Championship (and another Pounder just joined the party). The Golden State Warriors finished dead last at 4%, just behind the Houston Rockets at 5%. In the listing of pros and cons of rooting for each team, this is what I wrote about GSW: “No one roots for the Death Star.” Except perhaps, this guy: Not that long ago, the Warriors weren’t the Death Star that was very difficult to root for. Indeed, I remember the exact day the Warriors became my back-up favorite team behind the Spurs: October 28, 2013. I remember the day because I wrote about it (in my pre-PTR days). I had attended a very early season Lakers game and realized I didn’t know or care about any of the players on that team. For my new back-up team, I chose the Warriors. This was the start of the 2013-2014 season, before anyone knew the Warriors would be good. They were just OK that year, as they were still coached by Mark Jackson. The next year, they hired ex-Spur Steve Kerr, who promised to rejuvenate the offense, and he did. With the same players who had been only league-average under Jackson, the new offense was a revelation, and it was fun. Spurs-like movement with two great shooters thrown in. Steph Curry and Klay Thompson were freed to run around the court firing up threes, and the entire team’s passing was great. Andre Iguodala, one of the best people in the game, was the “veteran leadership”, and Sean Livingston was completing his comeback to a solid NBA player. All in all, an easy team to like. But they became very hard to root for once Kevin Durant joined. While I did not begrudge KD for his choice (would you rather play with the Splash Brothers or Russell Westbrook? ), joining a 73-win team seemed a bit of overkill — even if the Warriors had not won the championship the year before and their antics leading up to that meltdown not winning them any new fans. I, and others, referred to this new juggernaut as the Death Star. Except for long-suffering Warriors fans who deserved a bit of redemption, the Warriors became the team that other fans hoped would lose, but didn’t believe it would happen. Hence the 4% vote in our poll, even lower than the Houston Rockets, a team very hard for anyone outside of Houston to like. Will KD’s injury in Game 5 against the Rockets — ruled a strained calf — change things for NBA fans? In my view, the team is now back to the team that was easy to like. They still have Coach Kerr, Steph, Klay and Iggy, all the reasons they were fun. And while we don’t yet know if Durant is out for the playoffs (he will miss the remainder of this series and be re-evaluated in a week), if he is, a Warrior championship would be historic. People still talk about the Willis Reed game in which he could barely play in Game 7 of the 1970 NBA Finals, but the Knicks still prevailed against a Lakers team led by Jerry West and Wilt Chamberlain. In Magic’s rookie year, the team won Game 6 and the championship against Dr. J’s 76ers with Kareem at home with an ankle he sprained (badly) in Game 5. But no team has ever lost their best player before the halfway point in the playoffs and still gone on to win it all. Even with KD, the Warriors needed six games to beat the 8 seed Clippers and are playing an outstanding Rockets team that came within 6 points or less in the three Warrior wins, and beat them twice. All this with Durant playing at Jordan-esque levels on both ends of the court. If the Warriors hang on to beat the Rockets without KD and get past the Nuggets/Blazers winner, they will face either the Bucks or (presumably) Raptors in the Finals. Both of those teams have better records than the Warriors and will have home-court advantage in the Finals. Without KD, each will also have the best player on the floor each night. Without KD, the Warriors will not be favored against either, even if they get that far. All of this may be premature. Perhaps KD only misses a game and comes back strong. But if not, and the Warriors keep plugging along, playing the pre-KD Warriors style of basketball, and win with the Warriors’ best player in street clothes, that will be a great story. And Curry may be looking forward to writing that story. With Durant out for an indefinite amount of time, Curry acknowledged that the Warriors would have to go back to how they played four years ago, before Golden State acquired its star forward. ”Whoever has the ball, no matter if it’s off a pick-and-roll, we swing, make the defense work, make decisions on that end of the floor,” Curry said. “We still have a lot of weapons and can create good offense through that type of attack. ”At the end of the day, everything that we do starts with our defense. That gave us a chance to win down the stretch with how hard we played on that end of the floor. Just subtle changes that happen when you don’t have those play calls that gets K in the right spot to take advantage of his talent. We’ll tap into that for however long he’s out.”<doc-sep>
OAKLAND, CALIFORNIA - MAY 08: Kevin Durant #35 of the Golden State Warriors grabs his ankle after injuring himself against the Houston Rockets during Game Five of the Western Conference Semifinals of the 2019 NBA Playoffs at ORACLE Arena on May 08, 2019 in Oakland, California. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Ezra Shaw/Getty Images) The Golden State Warriors superstar forward Kevin Durant will have limited time to heal his injured right calf prior to the Western Conference Finals. After a stunning Game 6 victory, the Golden State Warriors will get a few days off. They’ll take on the winner of the Portland Trail Blazers versus Denver Nuggets in Game 1 of the Western Conference Finals on May 14. Both teams will pose interesting threats to the Golden State throne. However, each of the matchups gets significantly easier for Golden State if former MVP Kevin Durant returns to the lineup. In the third quarter of Game 5 in the West semifinals, Durant went down with what appeared to be a non-contact injury. While most of the on-scene analysts were calling it an Achilles injury, the medical staff came out confirming it was a right calf strain. ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski reported that Durant will be re-examined next week. What “next week” means is unclear, but Durant, if he hopes to make it back in time for the Conference Finals, will have to push the limits on his body. While obviously not ideal, the Warriors can look into playing the first two games, both which will regardlessly be at home, without the four-time scoring champ. After all, if they defeated the Rockets in Game 6 without him, couldn’t they beat who many consider will be a worse opponent? Want your voice heard? Join the Blue Man Hoop team! Write for us! Against both the Blazers and Nuggets, Durant is a cheat code for Golden State. The Nuggets, outside of Torrey Craig, have no one to guard Durant. Meanwhile, Portland, who struggled to defend Paul George in their first-round matchup, may not have an answer for one of the postseason’s best players. That said, getting Durant back will be a huge plus for Golden State. However, a strain that was described as “mild” may take weeks to heal. Fans and coaches may have to plan not to see Durant return till possibly the NBA Finals. The Golden State Warriors will have under a week till the start of the Western Conference Finals. Will that be enough time for Kevin Durant to make a full recovery? Let’s hope so!