Golden State Warriors: Top 3 storylines and NBA Finals preview/prediction
By Justin Fried
2. What about Kevin Durant and DeMarcus Cousins?
The Warriors have been playing down two All-Stars for much of this postseason with center DeMarcus Cousins having suffered a torn quad in the opening round of the playoffs and Kevin Durant having injured his right calf during the Rockets series.
The current status of both remains up in the air but the hope is that both will be able to return at some point in this series. Miraculously, Cousins appears the closest to a possible return.
Despite tearing his quad a little over a month ago, the former New Orleans Pelicans star is expected to return early in the series. In fact, some reports indicate that he might even be ready by Game 1.
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Cousins has already practiced in a full-contact scrimmage earlier in the week and could very well be available by the very start of the series. Now, that doesn’t mean that he will immediately jump back into a starting role as his minutes will likely be limited to start off.
But with the stakes as high as they are — and with Cousins playing in the first NBA Finals of his career — expect Golden State to give Cousins ample playing time before long.
As for Durant, his status is a bit murkier. Given that he is still yet to practice, the earliest we could possibly see Durant would likely be Game 3 in Oakland on June 5th. The Warriors could certainly win without Durant — they’ve made that clear this postseason.
But any claims that they are a better overall team without him are a bit far-fetched. Even with Curry and Thompson carrying the team’s scoring, it certainly wouldn’t hurt to have the presence of a former league MVP back in the lineup — especially one that was averaging 30+ points a night before his injury.