OAKLAND – A hobbled Klay Thompson is expected back for Friday’s Game 4 but Kevin Durant won’t join him, according to Warriors coach Steve Kerr.
The hope KD would make it back by Game 4 has been torpedoed after he was not cleared for Thursday’s practice and hence did not scrimmage, leaving in greater doubt his future for the Finals.
Game 5 – which is not until Monday in Toronto – is still in play, but KD is only getting rustier and he is expected to be on a minutes restriction when he comes back from a partially torn calf.
The Warriors trail in the series 2-1 and could conceivably be playing their final game that counts at Oracle Arena, with the franchise on the move to San Francisco next season with or without KD.
Kerr said Durant had “no setbacks” and may have “misspoke” Wednesday when he indicated Durant would stage either a 5-on-5 or 3-on-3 scrimmage as “the next step.”
That never happened and Kerr said the training staff still does not feel comfortable putting him in that game-like setting. “He’s not ready,” Kerr said. “There was no setback. I was hoping today would be the day he’d get back on the floor. It’s not going to be today. It’s going to be tomorrow or next couple days.
“The hope would be that he could still make it back at the end of the series. But he did not have a setback. I’m getting asked a million questions every day, and so sometimes I might answer something that doesn’t jibe perfectly with what the training staff saw that morning. He still has another hurdle to clear.”
The Warriors would have two days off between Games 4 and 5. But if he’s not back by Game 5, there may not be another game for him to target until next season when his whereabouts are undetermined. There’s a recent theory if the Warriors lose in the Finals and KD can’t make it back, he would be more apt to return to try to collect a third ring. Recent steam about Kyrie Irving preferring Brooklyn over the Knicks also doesn’t bode well for James Dolan’s team as Durant may need a star partner before making the leap to a 17-65 club.
The good news for Golden State is Thompson will play but there’s no telling what condition he’ll be in with a strained hamstring. Thompson is arguably their best defender despite not getting the credit and he could be most affected on that end of the court.
The Raptors rolled up 123 points in Game 3’s win with all five of their starters scoring at least 17 points. Stephen Curry was a one-man band, scoring 47 points in the 123-109 loss.
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