Kevin Durant has not played since Game 5 of the Western Conference Semifinals against the Houston Rockets after he left that game with a calf strain in the third quarter.
The Warriors were able to get by Houston and Portland without too much bother, but without Durant they have struggled to handle the Raptors in the Finals. They’ve struggled offensively to crack the code of Toronto’s defense, and haven’t been able to contain Kawhi Leonard and company on the other end, leading to a 3-1 deficit going back to Toronto.
Throughout the Finals, Durant’s status has been that he won’t play until he practices and through the first four games he was not cleared to do so. On Sunday, he was able to practice and, as such, for the first time all series he is listed as questionable on the day before injury report.
Kevin Durant (calf) has been listed as questionable for Game 5 of NBA Finals on Monday night.
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) June 9, 2019
This is obviously a major development and if Durant can come back and play at a high level, it certainly changes the dynamic of the series. Whether that’s enough for the Warriors to win three straight, we’ll have to see, but they would have far better odds of doing so with him than without, especially given their struggles at home the last two games.
We likely won’t know about a Durant return until closer to game time on Monday night, but for now it seems like a very real possibility he joins his teammates for the first time in a month.
