Durant out for game four of NBA Finals but Thompson to return

Golden State star forward Kevin Durant will miss game four of the NBA Finals on Friday with a right calf injury, Warriors coach Steve Kerr said Thursday, but guard Klay Thompson is expected to return.

Both players were absent in Wednesday's 123-109 loss to Toronto, which game the Raptors a 2-1 edge in the best-of-seven championship series entering game four Friday in Oakland.

Two-time NBA Finals Most Valuable Player Durant, the team's leading playoff scorer with 32.5 points a game, did not have a setback, Kerr said, but trainers will not clear him for scrimmage work before Friday or Saturday.

"Kevin will not play tomorrow," Kerr said. "He will continue to get treatment. He will continue to work.

"It's about when the training staff tells me he's ready."

Kerr had hoped Wednesday that Durant, who has missed the past month with the injury, might return Friday but he has yet to work out with teammates.

"I think that's something that will happen in the coming days," Kerr said. "The hope would be he could still make it back for the end of the series."

That end might come sooner than Kerr would like after the latest Golden State defeat, which came despite a career playoff high 47 points from Stephen Curry.

Five-time All-Star guard Thompson sat out Wednesday with a strained left hamstring, ending a career run of 120 consecutive playoff games without a miss. But Kerr expects him back for game four.

"Klay will plan on playing tomorrow," Kerr said. "We expect him to play barring somerthing unforseen."

The injury-hit defending NBA champions might even get back forward Kevon Looney, who had been declared out for the remainder of the best-of-seven series with a chest injury, according to Kerr.

"We're gathering information, second opinion-type thing," Kerr said. "It's sort of an open question. At this point there's not anything to report. We're looking at all our options and his options."

? 2019 AFP