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Kevin Durant left in the second half of last night’s Game 5 between the Houston Rockets and the Golden State Warriors with a calf strain, and now it’s been announced that he’s going to miss at least Friday night’s Game 6 and potentially more depending on the results of his MRI, scheduled for today.
Warriors head coach Steve Kerr had this to say about Durant’s status:
“He’s not going to play Game 6. We can all pretend and just say he’s doubtful. But he’s not playing Game 6. Hopefully, we get Kevin back at some point.”
The injury certainly didn’t look good for KD, and I wouldn’t be surprised to see him miss at least the rest of the series as well, should it go to a Game 7. He could also potentially miss more depending on the severity and should the Dubs advance.
This opens up a window for the Rockets to potentially capitalize on. Durant’s been playing extremely well for The Dubs and has often been the great equalizer during the times the rest of the roster has struggled.
It’s important to note that these are still the Warriors, and they still have three healthy All-Stars, one of which is a former MVP. This is still a monumental task for the Rockets, but the door is now ajar, if even just a little bit more.
We’ll see how both teams respond to this situation, and we’ll have some deeper analysis of what this means for the Rockets’ chances coming up here at TDS before Game 6.
UPDATE:
Golden State’s Kevin Durant has suffered a mild strain on his right calf and expected to be re-evaluated next week, league source tells ESPN.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) May 9, 2019