Things took a scary turn for the Golden State Warriors during the third quarter of their second-round matchup with the Houston Rockets on Wednesday night. Already without center DeMarcus Cousins due to an injury, All-Star forward Kevin Durant suffered an injury of his own during Game 5. Late in the third, Durant went up for a jump shot and when he came down, appeared to be in discomfort almost immediately, as seen below. Kevin Durant suffers non-contact injury that appears to be an Achilles injury pic.twitter.com/Dv7Gu1QmLL — gifdsports (@gifdsports) May 9, 2019 It was a non-contact injury and appeared to happen after Durant took the shot. As seen below in a video from Bleacher Report, Durant turned to go back on defense after the shot when he suddenly stopped and reached for his foot. 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 Follow the Heavy NBA Facebook page for all the latest stories, rumors and viral content! Original Concern Over Kevin Durant’s Injury Pointed to Achilles While there has been no confirmation yet, the consensus seems to be that the injury may have something to do with Durant’s Achilles. Due to the fact that it was a non-contact injury and the way the Warriors star limped off the floor, many immediately feared the worst. Former NFL player and current analyst Damien Woody offered some insight into the reaction to the injury and pointed out that it was the same he had when he tore his Achilles. When I tore my Achilles and I literally had the same reaction as KD — Damien Woody (@damienwoody) May 9, 2019 While there is still an obvious concern, it does appear that the injury isn’t as severe as what was originally feared. Kevin Durant Injury Update LATEST: 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 will miss the final two games of the second-round series, and possibly beyond that. Original Injury Updates Durant is dealing with a right calf strain, which the Warriors revealed and the TNT broadcast reported shortly after he went back to the locker room. Beyond that, ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski also reported that the early indications are that Durant suffered just a lower leg injury and not an Achilles injury. Early indications on Kevin Durant's lower leg, league source tells ESPN: It doesn't appear to be an Achilles injury. — Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) May 9, 2019 It was also stated that Durant will not return to Game 5 due to the injury. Unfortunately, there has to be concern over his availability moving forward, even if this does prove to be a calf strain. NBA analyst Nate Duncan made an interesting point that if the injury was bad enough to force Durant from the game, that he may not be back during the current series against the Rockets. Now for the bad news, imagine that if the calf strain was bad enough for KD to have to leave the game, he won't be back this series — Nate Duncan (@NateDuncanNBA) May 9, 2019 NBA Players Sound Off on Durant’s Injury While a number of players and analysts pointed to the concern over a potential Achilles injury, a mixture of both current and former players chimed in as well. One which stood out was San Antonio Spurs forward Rudy Gay, who said early on that he didn’t believe the injury was as bad as originally anticipated. Praying for KD. Although I don’t think it’s what we think. Hopefully — Rudy Gay (@RudyGay) May 9, 2019 It does feel like you got kicked but a strained calf feels the same I hear https://t.co/WTf5TRyYm0 — Rudy Gay (@RudyGay) May 9, 2019 Other players and fans across the league poured out their support for Durant after the injury. Portland Trail Blazers guard CJ McCollum, who suffered a scary knee injury of his own late in the regular season sent thoughts to the Warriors star, as did Utah Jazz guard Donovan Mitchell. Damn man Prayers up for my homie @KDTrey5 ?? — CJ McCollum (@CJMcCollum) May 9, 2019 It does not appear that there will be any additional information provided on Wednesday night, but we’ll update if there is anything made public. 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>
Kevin Durant was in the middle of another big game when disaster seemed to strike late in the third quarter of Game 5 against the Rockets when he suffered a leg injury and immediately limped back into the locker room. It was a non-contact type of injury in which his initial reaction seemed to be looking around to see if someone hit him. That led Reggie Miller on the TNT broadcast to speculate if it was an Achilles injury, which would be a heartbreaker for Durant, the Warriors, and the game of basketball. TNT then reported that it was a right calf strain and he wouldn’t be returning, which would be a lot better than an Achilles injury but still could be be bad, especially for the rest of this series. Kevin Durant is getting an MRI tomorrow. Warriors say it's TBD if he's traveling to Houston tomorrow — Mark Medina (@MarkG_Medina) May 9, 2019 . @ALaForce shares an update on Kevin Durant (right calf strain) and says he will get an MRI tomorrow. pic.twitter.com/6lpe4Peqn9 — NBA on TNT (@NBAonTNT) May 9, 2019 Check out the play for yourself and see how this definitely looked like it could have been an Achilles injury: Kevin Durant with a non-contact injury, hope he’s alright pic.twitter.com/vdQcWMD69P — NBA RETWEET (@RTNBA) May 9, 2019 NBA players, media, and fans reacted: Damn man Prayers up for my homie @KDTrey5 🙏🏽 — CJ McCollum (@CJMcCollum) May 9, 2019 Prayers Going Up My Guy🙏🏽🙏🏽🙏🏽 @KDTrey5 — Trae Young (@TheTraeYoung) May 9, 2019 OMG!!!! @KDTrey5 drills jumper then turns around and looks back s if someone kicked him. We know what that usually means: Ruptured Achilles. If it’s that, the @warriors just lost this series. And it will end in Houston on Friday night! — Stephen A Smith (@stephenasmith) May 9, 2019 If KD just did his achilles that impacts not only this game, this series, this season, but the entire future of the NBA. — pat muldowney (@patmuldowney) May 9, 2019 the spectrum of what just happened to Kevin Durant ranges from he's fine he'll be back out there in 5 minutes to the next decade of the NBA may have just changed shape before our eyes — Rob Perez (@WorldWideWob) May 9, 2019 So many NBA ramifications — tonight, these playoffs, this summer and far beyond — ride on whether this scary Kevin Durant injury is what many fear pic.twitter.com/ZYFDnaUkXX — Anthony Slater (@anthonyVslater) May 9, 2019