Kevin Durant Left Game 5 With A Calf Strain In The Third Quarter (UPDATE)

Kevin Durant has been playing arguably the best basketball of his career during the Warriors’ current postseason run, serving as the constant amid shooting inconsistencies from Steph Curry and Klay Thompson.

The superstar forward is also headed into free agency this summer, with the expectation that he’ll finally ink a max deal somewhere rather than the 1-and-1 deals he’s been signing in Golden State. This playoff run has solidified his place as arguably the NBA’s best player, and he should be set to cash in, either in the Bay, New York, or elsewhere.

The Warriors, at times, appeared poised to run away with Game 5 of the Western Conference Semifinals against the Rockets, but in the third quarter Houston clawed its way back into the game, cutting the deficit to one late in the third. Durant then isolated on the baseline and hit a midrange jumper to push the lead back to three, but as he took a stride back up the floor, he grabbed at the back of his right leg.

There was no contact to Durant and he went immediately to the locker room. As Reggie Miller noted on the broadcast, it was eerily similar to when Kobe Bryant suffered his Achilles injury and looked around for who kicked the back of his leg, when in reality no one made contact with him.

UPDATE: Luckily, it was a calf strain and not an Achilles, but Durant was ruled out for the remainder of Game 5 and his status moving forward is unknown.

Quinn Cook and Durant’s business partner Rich Kleiman both went into the locker room shortly after to check on him.

https://twitter.com/dkurtenbach/status/1126341794776567809

Rudy Gay, watching along with everyone else, offered hope that it wouldn’t be the Achilles, noting that calf strains also can offer a similar sensation, and he was happily correct.