Golden State Warriors fans got some welcome news Wednesday from their team, which announced that Kevin Durant was on track to possibly return to the court before the end of the regular season. The All-Star forward has been out since injuring his a knee in a Feb. 28 game against the Wizards.
“Kevin has made very good progress since suffering the injury four weeks ago in Washington,” Golden State said in a statement. “He has not experienced any setbacks to date and has progressed as well as could be expected.”
The team said that Durant was “being incorporated into non-contact basketball drills – shooting, running and jumping – and the plan is to intensify his level of movement over the next several days.” How the 28-year-old responds to the increased intensity of his workouts will determine when, or if, he recommences contact drills.
“A return to game action prior to the end of the regular season remains a possibility,” the Warriors said. “He will be reevaluated again in the next 7-10 days.”
Sources told ESPN’s Marc Stein that a likely scenario would have Durant playing again, albeit in limited minutes, in Golden State’s final three-regular season contests. That would represent a stretch of home games from April 8-12, against the Pelicans, Jazz and Lakers.
In his first season with the Warriors – after spending his first nine with the Thunder (including a rookie year when the franchise was the Seattle SuperSonics) – Durant was leading the Warriors in scoring with 25.3 points per game. That mark was his lowest since his second season, but he was playing his fewest minutes since his rookie year while equaling or establishing career highs in rebounds (8.2) and blocks (1.6).
Including the game in which Durant was injured, which occurred early in the first quarter, his absence sent the Warriors, 50-9 at the time, into a bit of a tailspin. Golden State lost that game and four of its next six. But it righted the ship and extended a nine-game win streak with a win over the second-place Spurs on Wednesday in San Antonio.
Stephen Curry, in particular, appeared to find it initially difficult to return to playing without Durant, hitting just 18 of 65 three-point attempts during that losing skid. The reigning two-time NBA MVP then rediscovered his sharpshooting form and has led Golden State’s successful run.
The Warriors, of course, were in little danger of Durant’s absence causing them to fall out of the top two seeds in the Western Conference, let alone miss the playoffs. However, they would likely much prefer to get the 2014 MVP back on the floor and let him shake off some rust before the postseason begins.