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The Warriors’ injuries have been the story of these NBA Finals. The team entered the Finals with a laboring Kevin Durant, nursing a calf injury with an unclear level of severity. He was effectively ruled out at the start of the series, but Game 4 was always a potential mark that the Warriors had been targeting.
On Thursday, it was announced that the hopes of a Game 4 return were no longer. According to Anthony Slater of The Athletic, Durant will not return in Game 4.
Kevin Durant will not play in Game 4.
— Anthony Slater (@anthonyVslater) June 6, 2019
According to Kerr, the team’s training staff did not feel comfortable putting Durant in a game.
Steve Kerr says the training staff isn't yet comfortable putting Kevin Durant in a game. The scrimmage, which Kerr discussed yesterday, won't happen today, Kerr now says. It's getting pretty late for KD…
— Anthony Slater (@anthonyVslater) June 6, 2019
Kerr clarified that Durant has not suffered any setbacks and will likely scrimmage and play in a more accelerated sense in one of the next two days.
Kerr on Durant: "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." Says he "misspoke" last night, KD still has another hurdle to clear, but hope is he'll still return.
— Anthony Slater (@anthonyVslater) June 6, 2019
While the Warriors will be without Durant, they officially announced that Klay Thompson will return for Game 4. Kerr said it was likely Thompson would play following Game 3 on Wednesday, but confirmed the news today.
Kevin Durant has been ruled out of Game 4. As expected, Klay Thompson will play.
— Connor Letourneau (@Con_Chron) June 6, 2019