Watch the next instalment of the NBA Finals in the early hours of Monday morning (1am) live on Sky Sports Arena
Friday 31 May 2019 18:13, UK
Kevin Durant could return from a calf injury as soon as Game 3 of the NBA Finals and he is expected back by Game 4, according to reports in the United States.
Durant, who was hurt May 8 in the fifth game of the Western Conference semifinals against the Houston Rockets and has missed the past six games, travelled with the Golden State Warriors to Toronto but will not play in either of the first two games of the best-of-seven series.
Head coach Steve Kerr said Durant would be considered a real "long shot" to suit up for Game 2 after Toronto opened the Finals with a 118-109 win to take a 1-0 lead.
Yahoo Sports reported there is optimism within the organisation that Durant could play in Game 3, which takes place in the early hours of Thursday June 6 - but the stronger possibility considering conditioning and risk of re-injury is Game 4 (June 7) of the series is more logical.
The Warriors had been 5-0 without Durant in these playoffs until Thursday night's defeat.
"KD's an all-time great player on both ends of the floor, so I could sit here and talk for days about what he adds to our roster," Steph Curry said after Game 1.
"We obviously have proven that when he's out, we can have guys step up and that's going to be the case until he gets back."
Durant has come up huge in the Finals for the past two seasons and is averaging 34.2 points per game this postseason. He was named Finals MVP in each of the past two seasons, which ended with the Warriors hoisting the Larry O'Brien Trophy.
"It's good to have Kevin here. Obviously he's a huge part of our team and the guys are all pulling for him," Kerr said Thursday.
"It's such a privilege to be here and play in the NBA Finals for all of these guys. You grow up dreaming about this that you hate that anybody is injured. You want everybody to be healthy and have a lot more opportunity.
"More than anything, we want Kevin to be healthy and come back and enjoy at least part of the series. He's also pretty good so it wouldn't hurt to have him back.
"He was on the court yesterday. I believe he was on the court this morning. He's in the training room getting all kinds of treatment. The next step would be to practice with the team but we don't know when that is going to be. He'll continue with the individual workouts, ramping that up as our training staff sees fit."
Game 2 takes place in Toronto in the early hours of Monday morning (1am) live on Sky Sports Arena
