The Golden State Warriors are facing elimination, but Kevin Durant, who hurt his leg a month ago, isn’t a sure thing for tonight’s game against the Raptors. At today’s practice, head coach Steve Kerr wouldn’t say anything beyond calling his player a “game-time decision” for Game 5 of the NBA Finals.
“He went through full shootaround and went back to get treatment,” Warriors coach Steve Kerr said. “We’ll list him game-time decision, but it looked good and we’ll see where it all goes.”
Additionally, Kerr said if Durant does play tonight, there is no firm minutes restriction for him.
On the other hand, NBC Sports Bay Area’s Monte Poole has sources telling him that Durant will be out there and at full capacity against Toronto. (The San Francisco Chronicle had a similar report.)
Obviously, “expected” doesn’t guarantee Durant will play. It just means that the Warriors can only extend their season if they win tonight, and the idea of Golden State’s era of dominance concluding with an anti-climactic Finals loss in five games is creating palpable pressure on him to get out there on his one healthy leg and toss up some shots so that Quinn Cook doesn’t have to, even though Durant owes the Warriors nothing and there’s practically no chance of him re-signing with the team after the season. If the expectation doesn’t lead to KD’s return, maybe Kerr can suit up for a few minutes.