Moments after Warriors forward Kevin Durant limped to the locker room with a strained right calf Wednesday night, center DeMarcus Cousins — possibly out for the season with a quad injury — told players during a team huddle, “It’ll be fine, go play the game.” When teammates asked him about Durant, Cousins pointed to the floor and shouted, “It’s out there! It’s out there on the court!” His message resonated: As Durant got treated by team trainers, the Warriors mined contributions from throughout their rotation to leave Oracle Arena with a 104-99 win over Houston in Game 5 of the Western Conference semifinals. This offered Golden State a blueprint for how it must play without Durant, who will miss the rest of the series. The Warriors, up 3-2 on the Rockets in the best-of-seven series, play Game 6 on Friday night in Houston and — if necessary — will fly back to Oakland for Game 7 on Sunday afternoon. A Thursday morning MRI exam revealed that Durant’s strain was mild. It’s a relatively minor injury that requires some rest and no surgery, but even the smallest of muscle tweaks can have grave ramifications when they hit a player of Durant’s caliber in the playoffs. There are still plenty of reasons for optimism for the Warriors, chief among them being the fact that Durant isn’t essential to their movement-heavy system. As Draymond Green reminded Durant during their on-court argument late in a Nov. 12 loss to the Clippers, “We won without you.” Almost all of the core players — Green, Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson, Andre Iguodala, Shaun Livingston — remain from the teams that hoisted the 2015 Larry O’Brien Trophy and reached the 2016 NBA Finals before Durant joined the team. The Warriors are 26-1 in their past 27 games when Curry plays and Durant does not, including 4-0 against the Rockets. “I think there’s an advantage to have championship experience, and to have rings on your fingers,” Warriors head coach Steve Kerr said. “This group will never be doubted. This group has nothing to prove, so there’s a freedom that comes with that.” Although Durant is a willing passer, his absence emboldens Curry to unleash his signature mix of 30-footers, scoop shots and shimmies. In recent weeks, as the Warriors relied increasingly on Durant, Curry failed to provide one of his scoring binges. But after Durant left late in the third quarter Wednesday with the calf injury, Curry scored 16 points on 5-for-9 shooting — a big uptick from his 4-for-14 start. And it wasn’t just Curry who made sure Golden State held off the Rockets to seize a series lead. Series schedule Warriors lead 3-2 Game 1: Warriors 104, Rockets 100 Game 2: Warriors 115, Rockets 109 Game 3: Rockets 126, Warriors 121 Game 4: Rockets 112, Warriors 108 Game 5: Warriors 104, Rockets 99 Friday: at Houston, 6 p.m. ESPN Sunday: at Oracle Arena, 12:30 p.m. Channel: 7Channel: 10* All games on 95.7 * If necessary See More Collapse Kevon Looney helped counter Houston forward P.J. Tucker’s physicality, corralling nine rebounds (five offensive). Green (12 rebounds, 11 assists) baited Chris Paul into a charge before hitting a 3-pointer with 3:22 left to give the Warriors a 94-89 lead. Thompson, who was held to 11 points two nights earlier, punctuated his 27-point night by banking in a layup over James Harden and Clint Capela with 4.1 seconds remaining to ice the victory. “We’ve got to have (Durant’s) back the way he’s been honestly carrying us the entire playoff run,” Curry said. “That’s what makes a great team: whoever is out there is just making plays.” In the wake of Thursday’s Durant news, Las Vegas oddsmakers put the Warriors as consensus 7½-point underdogs in Game 6. That is Golden State’s worst spread for a matchup in which both Kerr and Curry were expected to be available — a stretch that, including the postseason, spans 440 games. This speaks to Durant’s value to Golden State, which perhaps has not been higher. Four times in the past two weeks, Kerr has gone out of his way to tout Durant as the best player in the world, a claim that few could dispute. Interactive How Curry's 3-point shooting changed the game Stephen Curry has not only led a Warriors resurgence since entering the league, he has changed the game with his long-distance shooting. Through 11 playoff games, Durant is averaging 34.2 points — on pace for the second-highest postseason clip in 25 years (LeBron James averaged 35.3 in 2009) — on 51.3% shooting (41.6% from 3-point range). Durant’s ability to score at will came in handy as Curry and Thompson toiled through extended shooting ruts. The Warriors have outscored opponents by 79 points this postseason with Durant on the floor, but they have been outscored by 14 points with Durant on the bench. Kerr has been so desperate for Durant’s instant offense that, before Durant got injured in Game 5, he played Durant 212 of a possible 233 minutes against the Rockets. Harden, whose ability to draw fouls and drill step-back 3-pointers is paramount to Houston’s chances against the Warriors, is shooting 36 percent when guarded by Durant. “We know we’re going to have to be near perfect to go down to Houston without Kevin and win a game,” Thompson said after Wednesday’s Game 5 victory. “It’s going to be hard.” The Rockets have scored 546 points to the Warriors’ 552. If Golden State can beat Houston once without Durant, it likes its chances of welcoming him back during the conference finals. In each of the past two seasons, Durant sustained minor calf strains, only to return within a week. “We’ll just find somebody on the bench who can give us 35 points, two blocks, and 11 boards and nine assists,” Kerr said with a smirk. “It’s obviously a huge loss, but our team has a lot of confidence. “There’s no reason why we can’t go get a win.” Connor Letourneau is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: cletourneau@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @Con_Chron<doc-sep>The exhale is louder in New York than it is in California. Kevin Durant has a mild strain of his right calf, ESPN first reported Thursday, after the alarms-ringing non-contact injury he suffered in Golden State’s 104-99 Game 5 victory the night prior. The superstar forward will be re-evaluated next week, meaning he will miss the conclusion of the Western Conference semis, which the Warriors lead 3-2. Stephen Curry, himself with a finger injury, and the struggling Klay Thompson will now have to carry the load against the Rockets if the Warriors want to reach the Western Conference finals. Durant appears to be OK for the long term, and the Knicks are still lurking, waiting for the season to end and free agency to begin.<doc-sep>Kevin Durant is going to miss the remainder of Golden State's Western Conference semifinal series against the Rockets, but he could return next round. Warriors coach Steve Kerr provided some optimism Thursday when discussing Kevin Durant's eventual return from a calf strain that will keep him sidelined for the remainder of Golden State's second-round series against the Rockets. "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 suffered the injury in the third quarter of the Warriors' Game 5 victory, which gave them a 3-2 lead in the series. In 11 games this postseason, Durant is averaging 34.2 points in 39.1 minutes, which are both team highs. Kerr added that the team's championship experience should help it get past missing "the best player in the NBA playoffs" so far. Game 6 between Golden State and Houston is Friday at 9 p.m. ET in Houston. The Warriors are looking to reach their fifth straight Western Conference finals while Houston is looking to force a Game 7 and become the first Western Conference team to beat the two-time defending champions in the playoffs since the Clippers beat them in a first-round series in 2014.<doc-sep>
Kevin Durant’s MRI results are in and he’s going to miss the rest of the Warriors-Rockets series with a mild right calf strain, per ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski. This is relatively good news as the entire NBA world held its collective breath while fearing the worst when the injury happened late in the third quarter of Game 5. Just about everyone assumed it was an Achilles injury and that the NBA world had just been flipped upside down. Now Durant could reportedly return at some point during the Western Conference Finals… if the Warriors, who are up 3-2 in the series, can get there. Steve Kerr is staying hopeful that KD can bounce back from his calf strain this postseason. "It looks good for his return in the not-too-distant future." (via @957thegame) pic.twitter.com/PBKr2T9SWR — The Crossover (@TheCrossover) May 10, 2019 Warriors will have to find a way to beat Houston in Western Conference semifinals, but Kevin Durant could be back for the Western Finals. https://t.co/NpwRRAPXkh — Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) May 9, 2019 While this injury means a lot to the Warriors and their future, it also means that all of the pressure now rests on the shoulders of James Harden, who disappeared in the fourth quarter of Game 5, Chris Paul and the rest of the Houston Rockets. Last night, Steph closed it out while Harden went silent. pic.twitter.com/ugSV6kbs30 — SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) May 9, 2019 Because now they have no excuses. They have to get this done or it will be another glaring failure that will sting for quite some time, much like last year’s Game 7 against the Warriors when Houston missed 27 3-pointers in a row. Game 6 is Friday night in Houston, a place where the Warriors just dropped two straight. A place that will be buzzing when Harden and Co. look to save their season. There’s every reason to believe that the Rockets will force a Game 7 which would be played on Sunday night. But imagine if they don’t? Imagine if Steph Curry, Klay Thompson, and Draymond Green go into Houston and show the heart that led this squad to a big win after Durant went down. That would be more embarrassing for the Rockets than any Harden or Paul flop that we’ve ever seen. Related 5 reasons the Warriors will beat the Rockets without Kevin Durant Harden now has his best chance to lead the franchise to the NBA Finals and if he can’t deliver now it won’t be forgotten for quite some time. Even if the Rockets do force a Game 7, the pressure will be entirely on them at Oracle. Curry and Co. will have nothing to lose and will play freely at Oracle knowing they can always fall back on Durant’s injury if they do lose. They lost the best player in the world and are now playing with house money. The Rockets, however, will have nothing to fall back on if they choke this away. There are no excuses now for the Rockets. And there is plenty of pressure. Let’s see if they can handle it this time.