The outlook for Golden State Warriors star forward Kevin Durant appears on the surface that’s it’s not quite as bad as originally thought. While the concerns over a potential torn Achilles were high after Durant suffered a non-contact injury in Game 5 against the Houston Rockets, the first update was fairly positive. During the TNT broadcast, the Warriors announced that Durant had suffered a calf strain, but was ruled out for the remainder of the game. With that said, the team was set to do an MRI on the forward Thursday, which could decide whether he’ll miss the remainder of the season or just a short period. We’re going to take a look at the latest on Durant’s injury and his potential timeline for return. The results of the MRI will be revealed soon, but we’ll detail what we know thus far. Kevin Durant’s Injury Status & When He Could Return There’s a very real concern that Durant could miss the remainder of the NBA playoffs, even if the injury is not more severe than a strained calf. The Warriors have ruled Durant out for Game 6 of the NBA playoff series against the Rockets, and his status beyond that is up in the air. Interestingly, Dr. Jesse Morse of The Fantasy Doctors offered a timeline on a typical return from a calf strain and pointed to a potential 2-6 week outlook. He stated that this timeline could certainly wind up ending his season, but there’s nothing set in stone as to whether that will prove to be the case. Follow the Heavy NBA Facebook page for all the latest stories, rumors and viral content! Regardless, Durant’s chances of returning for this series and possibly even early in the Western Conference Finals, should the Warriors advance, may be a bit of a longshot. If this does prove to be a calf strain, the 2-6 possible timeframe for a return would likely be anywhere from May 22 to June 19. As Sports Media Watch shows, the tentative NBA Finals schedule will begin on Thursday, May 30, which would be at the three-week mark. The series will be wrapped up by Sunday, June 16, barring a chance to the schedule, so in order for Durant to play in the NBA Finals, he would likely have to return in the three-to-four week range. Update on Kevin Durant’s MRI ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski reported that the diagnosis is a mild strain to Durant’s right calf and that he will be re-evaluated next week. Golden State’s Kevin Durant has suffered a mild strain on his right calf and expected to be re-evaluated next week, league source tells ESPN. — Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) May 9, 2019 As he proceeds to point out, this means Durant could return for the Western Conference Finals, should the Warriors advance past the Rockets. He’ll be out at least through the final two games of the second-round series, and possibly longer. The update next week should provide a more definitive timeline for the forward, but for the time being, Golden State will move forward without both Durant and center DeMarcus Cousins. Original Kevin Durant Injury Outlook While the NBA world awaits word on Durant’s outlook, Chris Haynes of Yahoo Sports revealed that the MRI is set for Thursday. The official time of it has not been made public, but it will likely be done fairly early on in the day. Golden State star Kevin Durant will undergo an MRI tomorrow on his right calf, league sources tell Yahoo Sports. — Chris Haynes (@ChrisBHaynes) May 9, 2019 Additional insight from a few doctors stood out following the original injury, although the hope is that it’s not as severe as some are saying. Randon Hall, MD of The Injury Source stated that he believes Durant’s injury is a calf tear, but not an Achilles injury. In-depth look at why I predict Kevin Durant MRI will confirm a calf tear and NOT an Achilles injury. Video analysis of the injury compared to @kobebryant. https://t.co/PjxFeUI4GJ #DubNation #Rockets #NBAPlayoffs2019 #NBA #RocketsvsWarriors — Randon Hall, MD (@theinjurysource) May 9, 2019 We’ll update as additional news comes to light, but the status and severity of Durant’s injury should officially be revealed in the very near future. There will likely also be some sort of timeline attached to that. READ NEXT: NBA Finals Schedule 2019: Dates, Times & Championship Predictions<doc-sep>A deafening silence fell upon Oracle Arena, the type of silence that only overtakes a raucous crowd when something devastating happens. It occurred after Kevin Durant reached for his leg, then limped off the court in an apparent non-contact injury during Game 5 of Warriors-Rockets. It doesn’t get any more devastating than that. The Warriors are calling Durant’s injury a right calf strain. He did not return to Game 5, and his injury status for Game 6 is uncertain. Yahoo!’s Chris Haynes says Durant will undergo an MRI on Thursday. An MRI has never lied. The basketball world awaits the results. Here’s how it happened. Durant elevated over Danuel House and made a mid-range jump shot he’s made thousands of times in his life. But when he ran back on defense, stopped to look down at his leg. Then, he realized he couldn’t put pressure on it, and began walking straight to the locker room. Oh no. Durant to the locker room after taking a bad step... pic.twitter.com/0HqjNcfUwa — Dime (@DimeUPROXX) May 9, 2019 TNT broadcaster and Hall of Fame player Reggie Miller initially feared the worst: that it could have been an Achilles injury similar to the one that claimed the latter half of Kobe Bryant’s career, and also sidelined Demarcus Cousins for good portions of last year and this season. For now, the diagnosis of a right calf strain is a sigh of relief. We will wait for more updates in the days to come, as further examination could reveal more about his injury.<doc-sep>The Telegraph Two of the surprise packages of this clay-court season have been British – initially Dan Evans, who made a deep run in Monte Carlo, and more lately Cameron Norrie, who played his second final in three weeks on Sunday. Unfortunately, Norrie wasn’t able to land a maiden ATP title in Lyon. But then he was up against Stefanos Tsitsipas, who has been the dominant force of 2021 outside the slams, and now stands at No 1 in the table of most rankings points gained since January 1. Nevertheless, it had been a hugely creditable effort for Norrie to go this far, especially when you consider that he took out top seed Dominic Thiem on Thursday, and then trounced big-hitting Russian Karen Khachanov in Saturday’s semi-final, losing only two games in the process. Norrie has come to clay late in his career, but it feels like this is developing into his favourite surface. He has one of the heaviest left-handed forehands in the game, loaded with top-spin, and uses it like a miniature version of Rafael Nadal. The result has been a tally of 14 wins and only four losses since he began his European clay-court swing in Barcelona. So while the French Open, which starts next Sunday, has traditionally been a graveyard of British hopes, there are reasons to hope that this year’s event could deliver some more positive results. Norrie’s previous final in Estoril had been a nervewracking affair which he eventually lost on a deciding-set tie-break to the more experienced Spaniard Albert Ramos-Vinolas. Sunday was more straightforward for Tsitsipas, who needed only 69 minutes to hammer home a 6-3, 6-3 victory. It was Tsitsipas’ second title of the clay-court sequence, after he won Monte Carlo in mid-April, taking out Evans in the semi-final along the way. He has become a serious contender to upset the establishment – specifically Nadal and Novak Djokovic – at Roland Garros over the next few weeks. “I felt in good shape from the beginning of the tournament,” said Tsitsipas afterwards. “I am proud of today’s match, I knew it would be a difficult one against Cameron, who has been showing great tennis this week. He has been winning against good players and showing what the left hand can do on clay. “It was not an easy match today. I had to handle the nerves and I am proud of my performance and the way I stayed focused towards my goal.” On this year’s results, meanwhile, both Evans and Norrie stand among the world’s 20 most successful men. Evans is at No 16 and Norrie No 14. The next challenge for them both is to convert that ATP Tour form into a deep run at a major.<doc-sep>
CLICK HERE if you are having a problem viewing the photos on a mobile device Kevin Durant was reportedly diagnosed with a mild sprain of his right calf Thursday morning, confirming he’ll miss the rest of the Warriors’ Western Conference semifinals series against Houston, beginning with Game 6 in Houston on Friday. Durant will also be out if a Game 7 on Sunday is needed to decide the Warriors-Rockets series. Sources told ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski Durant’s MRI results revealed a mild strain. The Warriors announced confirmation of their initial diagnosis of a strained right calf and said Durant will be re-evaluated next week. Durant underwent an MRI after suffering the injury and leaving with 2:05 left in the third quarter of the Warriors’ 104-99 win over the Rockets in Game 5 Wednesday night. There was no immediate indication of which degree of strain Durant suffered. While no exact timetable for Durant’s return was given, medical experts say a Grade 1 calf strain is usually a 7-10 day recovery period and a Grade 2 strain takes 4-6 weeks to recover. Had Durant suffered a Grade 3 strain, he would have been out for the rest of the postseason since recovery from Grade 3 strains usually require three months to heal. The Warriors will fly to Houston knowing Durant won’t be on the floor with them when they try to win the series Friday night. If they can’t beat the Rockets without Durant on Friday, they’ll get another shot in the winner-take-all Game 7 at Orace on Sunday afternoon. If the Warriors advance to the Western Conference Finals, they’ll have to deal with either the Nuggets or Blazers without their biggest star for at least the beginning of the series. If you’re searching for good news, the MRI confirmed what was speculated a few minutes after Durant’s injury — he did not suffer an Achilles tendon injury. Kevin Durant goes to the locker room after suffering an apparent non-contact injury on lower leg pic.twitter.com/JCLv3szwz8 — Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) May 9, 2019 Stephen Curry, who scored 12 of his 25 points in the fourth quarter to key the win, said after Wednesday’s game that Durant was already talking about working his way back to the court. “We talked about he had (the same injury) I think two years ago in the Portland series, so (he was) just going back to the experience of what it’s going to take to get back on the floor as fast as possible.” Wednesday night’s injury marks the third consecutive season Durant has suffered a calf injury with the Warriors. He sat out eight days and missed two first-round playoff games against Portland in 2017 after suffering a Grade 1 left calf sprain. Durant strained his right calf last season against Dallas, missing three January games while sitting out a week to recover. Curry said now is the time for he and his teammates to step up for Durant the way he has for them this postseason. “We’ve gotta have his back the way he’s been honestly carrying us the entire playoff run,” Curry said. Coach Steve Kerr likely won’t reveal his plan to replace Durant in the lineup until shortly before Friday night’s Game 6. However, the possibilities include starting Andrew Bogut at center and hoping he won’t get exposed by the Rockets’ pick-and-roll, or inserting either Jonas Jerebko or Alfonzo McKinnie in the lineup. Bogut, in particular, could help on offense as a screener since the Warriors will probably lean more heavily on the pick-and-roll. Jerebko, who played five effective minutes on Wednesday, is a more consistent outside shooting threat than McKinnie, and could make some sense as a fill-in starter. If the Warriors choose to start small, Shaun Livingston could be in play. However, Livingston has battled left hip soreness and was questionable for Game 5. He wound up playing 14 largely ineffective minutes Wednesday night. The Warriors’ only other real options to fill minutes lost due to Durant’s injury would be to play Jordan Bell or Quinn Cook, both of whom come with defensive concerns in this series.