Kevin Durant left the Warriors' 104-99 Game 5 victory over the Rockets in the third quarter with a right calf strain and did not return. According to ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski, Durant mild calk strain in his right leg and will be re-evaluated in one week. TNT's Allie LaForce reported during Game 5 that Durant would undergo an MRI on Thursday. In addition, Warriors head coach Steve Kerr already made his decision on Thursday regarding Durant's playing status for Game 6 on Friday night -- he won't play, via Tim Kawakami of The Athletic. "He's not going to play Game 6 [in Houston]," Kerr told me late Wednesday. "We can all pretend and just say he's doubtful. But he's not playing Game 6." Here's the play where Durant was injured: Big picture, the Warriors did themselves a huge service by winning Game 5, as the team who wins Game 5 in a 2-2 series goes on to win the series 82 percent of the time. With Durant not able to go in Game 6, the Warriors at least have two chances to try and close out Houston, although they'd like to do it as quickly as possible. LaForce also reported that depending on the severity of the strain, there is a chance Durant's recovery could take 2-3 weeks.<doc-sep>The Golden State Warriors will be without postseason scoring leader Kevin Durant as they try to close out the Houston Rockets in the Western Conference semifinals. "Well, we'll just find somebody on the bench who can give us 35 points and two blocks and 11 boards and nine assists," coach Steve Kerr said once the team arrived back in Houston on Thursday evening. An MRI exam Thursday confirmed the Warriors' initial diagnosis of a strained right calf announced during Wednesday's 104-99 win at Oracle Arena. As the Warriors returned to Houston for Friday's Game 6, Durant stayed behind in the Bay Area to undergo treatment. He is scheduled to be re-evaluated next week, meaning if there is a decisive Game 7 in the series Sunday he would be out of that one as well. The Warriors lead the series 3-2. "He's been the best player in the NBA, in the playoffs. He's been phenomenal, so it's obviously a huge loss, but our team has a lot of confidence," Kerr said. "They trust each other. They've won championships together. So we come out and we give it our best shot, and we try to mix and match some lineups and find some minutes and some contributions where we haven't had them so far in this series. Guys will get opportunities who haven't had an opportunity yet. It'll be a little different. But no reason why we can't go get a win." Durant limped to the locker room after landing awkwardly on his right foot following a baseline jumper with 2:11 left in the third quarter Wednesday. The Warriors initially feared the two-time reigning NBA Finals MVP might have injured his Achilles, a far more serious issue. "It's a tough injury," teammate Klay Thompson said. "We'll have to collectively make up for what he does. We've done it before. It's going to be incredibly difficult. It's the playoffs. I know they're not going to feel sorry for us, the media, the fans. It will be a gut check time. We go down there and give it our best effort. That's all we can do. If we do that, I have confidence every man on this team will step up in his absence. We wish him a speedy recovery because we're not the same team without him." Durant, who leads all postseason scorers at 34.2 points per game, finished with 22 points, five rebounds and four assists in 32 minutes. Golden State has been without injured stars like Durant, Stephen Curry, Draymond Green or Thompson in big games before. The Warriors coaching staff planned to use the flight to reconfigure rotations for Game 6 without Durant, and Kerr said, "I have a pretty good feeling for it, but I'm not about to share it with you or anybody else other than our team." "Any time you see something like that, it's scary," Curry said after the game. "You could see the look on his face. He didn't really understand what was happening in that moment, trying to figure it out, went straight back to the locker room. During the timeout, we all looked at each other. There were a couple smiles in terms of what that meant for us as a team, the guys that were going to need to step up in those moments. Again, next-man-up mentality. Draymond said that at some point during that timeout. "It's hard to remove yourself from thinking about your teammate and your brother as he's back in the locker room getting checked out. But we were able to lock back in and just find a way to win the game. Now we can regroup and understand whatever the situation is going forward." Kevon Looney will certainly play more minutes as he did Wednesday. The big man grabbed nine rebounds, five on the offensive glass, to provide a big boost off the bench. "We're still really positive," Looney said. "Our team's been battle-tested, we've had to play without key guys before so whatever happens, happens. We're ready and we're confident that we have enough to win."<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.