Warriors superstar Kevin Durant has been forced off the court midway through Golden State’s playoffs clash against Houston. Durant, who has played a blinder of a series averaging close to 45 minutes per game, pulled up lame after sinking a bucket. The Warriors star tried following the play back down the court but couldn’t put weight on his ankle, prompting fears he had torn his achilles tendon. Golden State was leading 68-65 in the third when Durant was ushered off, but held on thanks to fellow superstars stepping and secured the 104-99 victory. A report from the changerooms squashed Durant’s achilles fears, confirming he only suffered a calf strain. Nevertheless, the 30-year-old’s night was over with the Warriors in dire need of an extra push, sitting at just one point ahead of the Rockets with four minutes to go. If the calf strain is a Grade 1, Durant is expected to be out for up to 10 days. A Grade 2 strain will effectively end his season, putting most stars on the bench for up to six weeks. Warriors coach Steve Kerr further squashed any fears of an Achilles injury in his post game press conference. “I was assured that it’s a calf strain and not the Achilles,” Kerr said. Would hate to see the era of one of the greatest basketball teams of all time end at the hand of an injury to their best player. Hoping whatever just happened to Kevin Durant is temporary. Shouldn’t end like this. — Jacob Wolf (@JacobWolf) May 9, 2019 Man....never, ever, ever wanna see that 😔 Here’s hoping that injury ain’t what it looks like. Million prayers up for @KDTrey5 🙏🏻 — Chris Manno (@Mann_O_Steel17) May 9, 2019 I can't even focus on the game, series feels totally over unless Kevin Durant returns to the court. And if he doesn't, I feel awful for him. And the NBA, too — Jason McIntyre (@jasonrmcintyre) May 9, 2019 The Warriors found the gas they needed, pushing through to snag an eight point lead with two minutes left. Klay Thompson (25) and Steph Curry (23) filled in the scoreboard with Durant (22) off the court for the remainder of the clash. Of course the victory hasn’t come without some controversy as screenshots began to filter throughout social media following the game. The screenshots showed Warriors guard Thompson appearing to have his foot on the ground out of bounds while trying to get a pass off. It occured in the dying seconds on a broken play that remarkably ended with Thompson scoring the game sealing layup. While Houston had their chances down the stretch, if the official had of spotted the foot on the ground, the Rockets would have had the ball down by three points with around 10 seconds to play. Klay actually was out of bounds before that last loose-ball scramble. It was actually Eric Gordon who should have come up with the ball, down 3. The game teetered. Klay wound up with a layup. — Skip Bayless (@RealSkipBayless) May 9, 2019 People are saying Klay stepped out. Haven't see the video but the still here shows it, I guess. Question on L2M report will be whether he is fouled or just steps out on his own. Get ready for controversy city tho. Was an awful play by Klay regardless. https://t.co/PKuDaUfm7I — Jared Wade (@Jared_Wade) May 9, 2019<doc-sep>2019-05-09T07:11:34+00:00 2019-05-09T07:11:34+00:00 2019-05-09T07:20:28+00:00. The Golden State Warriors went up 3-2 in their best-of-seven series versus the Houston Rockets. By John Askounis/ info@eurohoops.net Kevin Durant left with a right calf strain, but the Golden State Warriors defeated the Houston Rockets, 104-99, at the Oracle Arena on Wednesday for a 3-2 lead in the Western Conference Semifinal best-of-seven series. Klay Thompson dropped 27 points and Stephen Curry 25, Durant finished with 22. The hosts didn’t hold on to their 20-point advantage, but Draymond Green hit a clutch three before his sixth foul and Thompson followed with his fifth triple of the night for the 97-89 lead down the stretch. James Harden finished with 31 points, but wasn’t enough for the Texans. Swede Jonas Jerebko notched three points and one board in five minutes for the winning side. Fellow European Clint Capela ended up with six points, 14 rebounds and one assist for the Rockets, but Isaiah Hartenstein didn’t get any action in Game 5.<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>Photo : Ezra Shaw ( Getty ) The good news for Warriors fans: An MRI this afternoon confirmed that Kevin Durant’s scary-looking non-contact injury Wednesday night was actually a right calf strain. The last time Durant strained his calf, he was only out for a week, which means he could return in the playoffs and should be healthy when he hits free agency this summer. Advertisement Now, the bad news: The Warriors have to beat the Rockets once more without the only consistent scorer they’ve had in this ugly series. Houston has done a tremendous job of constricting the Warriors’ space and denying them the room they need to get their offense flowing, but they haven’t done much at all to slow down Durant. He’s scored 33.2 points a night in the conference semifinals, and he’s done it despite the pesky defense of P.J. Tucker, who can best be described as Patrick Beverley but bigger. On the other side of the court, whenever Durant was on James Harden, his length was pretty effective at hindering the Rockets’ scorer. Meanwhile, the rest of the team’s played with rocks in their shoes. Before finally waking up last night, Klay Thompson was averaging 15 a night, while Steph Curry has hit less than 30 percent of his threes throughout the series. The bench was already thin without DeMarcus Cousins to lean on, and only Kevon Looney has shown himself to be anything other than a pure disaster. Shaun Livingston sucks now. Durant’s improbable scoring has been the Warriors’ piton throughout the last three playoffs, and for the first time since the infamous 2016 NBA Finals, the team will be unable to rely on it. The solution is simple, but also not: Curry and Thompson have to show up. It’s a tough ask to demand that the Warriors revert to the pass-happy flow offense they ran before Durant arrived, but keeping pace with Houston will be impossible unless both Curry and Thompson score consistently. Draymond Green, Andre Iguodala, and Looney cannot carry the load. History favors a 3-2 lead, and Golden State played admirably after Durant went down last night. It’ll be tough, but the Warriors have won without Durant before.<doc-sep>
SAN FRANCISCO – Golden State Warriors star Kevin Durant will miss the remainder of the series against the Houston Rockets after an MRI scan revealed a strained right calf, the reigning league champions said Thursday (Friday Manila time). Coach Steve Kerr made the announcement and said others are going to have to pick up the slack. "He's been the best player in the NBA in the playoffs. He's been phenomenal," Kerr said. "Guys who haven't had opportunities yet (in this series) will have opportunities." Durant, averaging a league-best 34.2 points in the playoffs, was removed in the third quarter of Golden State's 104-99 home victory Wednesday over Houston, which gave the Warriors a 3-2 edge in their best-of-seven NBA Western Conference second-round series. There were fears Durant might have suffered a more extensive injury, but the team said in a statement the MRI confirmed the initial diagnosis of a right calf strain. Durant will not travel with the Warriors to Houston for game six, instead remaining in the San Francisco Bay region for treatment ahead of being re-evaluated next week. "I think it's good news," Kerr said. "Calf strain, he's had them before. He's responded well. Obviously, we're disappointed he won't be able to play in this series. If we're able to win the series and move on, looks good for his return in the not too distant future." Durant is an NBA finals Most Valuable Player the past two seasons after leading the Warriors to back-to-back crowns. He has also averaged 5.2 rebounds, 4.9 assists, 1.2 steals and 1.0 blocked shots a game for the Warriors in the playoffs this season. With Durant sidelined, the Warriors are likely to rely upon Andre Iguodala off the bench as well as other reserves to try and contain the Rockets.