Kevin Durant sprained his MCL and suffered a tibial bone bruise on Feb. 28, leaving his status for the rest of the regular season unknown. The Warriors shut their star forward down for four weeks and said they would reevaluate the situation then.
That was three weeks ago, so an official update is yet to come, but ESPN’s Marc Stein and Chris Haynes did some sleuthing and report that the Warriors are “cautiously optimistic” that Durant will be able to return before the end of the regular season. Durant completed his first on-court workout prior to the Warriors game in Dallas on Tuesday, and they are “encouraged” by his progress so far.
Durant looked pretty comfortable shooting jumpers before the Mavericks game. didn't see him doing anything more explosive than this, though. pic.twitter.com/E51raIkkeY
— tim cato (@tim_cato) March 21, 2017
Golden State struggled to adjust to Durant’s absence at first, but after a three-game losing skid the Warriors have rebounded with five consecutive victories. Even still, getting Durant back prior to the playoffs would be huge for Golden State in re-adjusting to his presence in the lineup and getting comfortable as they look to make another NBA Finals run. ESPN notes that the goal is for Durant to come back for the final week of the season.
If you’re into projecting when they would try to bring Durant back into the fold, the easy target date is April 8, which is the start of a three-game homestand for the Warriors to close out the season.
