Kevin Durant has finally been cleared to return to full practice activities, the team announced on Thursday. The Warriors released a statement saying Durant had been doing multiple workout sessions the past few days including scrimmages and is back with the team in a full capacity, with his return scheduled for Saturday against the Pelicans, barring any further setbacks.
Kevin Durant has been cleared to return to full team practices. Barring any setbacks, it is anticipated he will play in Saturday's game. pic.twitter.com/uE2SfJnc9j
— Warriors PR (@WarriorsPR) April 6, 2017
It’s been 19 games since Durant last played, and after a brief skid as they worked out the kinks in his absence, the Warriors have picked it up of late thanks in large part to Steph Curry’s fantastic play the past two weeks, winning their last 13 games after a three-game losing streak. Curry is averaging 27.5 points, 8.2 assists and 4.5 rebounds per game on a 50.0/47.4/84.7 shooting split over the recent winning streak.
Curry has said he thinks the Warriors are showing everyone what they’re truly capable of right now and they’re about to be adding Durant back to that lineup. There could be some minor pains in getting everyone’s role re-established with Durant taking his place in the lineup back, but in a way his injury could end up being good for the Warriors since it turned out to be less severe than originally feared.
Curry and Klay Thompson have both found their shooting strokes with Durant injured, and the team’s defense has managed to improve even though they were significantly better with Durant in the game than out on the defensive end early in the season. Durant being out may have helped Steve Kerr figure out some things with rotations on the defensive side of the ball and adding Durant back in should help even more. His return will come just in time for the Warriors to work him back into game action prior to the playoffs, as Golden State has three games remaining on the schedule and no back-to-backs. Durant should be able to play in all three to knock off the rust before the Warriors start their playoff series as the top seed in the West.
The questions about whether the Warriors had something wrong with them seem to have been answered, and now they add one of the game’s five best players to a team that has looked unstoppable for two weeks. Best of luck to the rest of the NBA.
