5:03 pm | June 5, 2019 | Go to Source | Author:
The Golden State Warriors have ruled out star guard Klay Thompson for Wednesday night’s Game 3 of the NBA Finals against the Toronto Raptors due to a left hamstring strain.
Warriors officials had preferred that Thompson sit out to protect his sore hamstring for the rest of the NBA Finals, but Thompson continued to lobby them to play, league sources told ESPN.
Thompson injured his hamstring in the second half of the Warriors’ win over the Toronto Raptors in Game 2 of the NBA Finals on Sunday night. He was unable to return to the game.
An MRI revealed a mild strain, and Thompson was officially listed as “questionable” for Game 3.
Thompson said Tuesday that it’s “a game-time decision, but personally it’s hard to see me not playing,” then added “if there’s any pain, it will be a no-go, because of the position we are in. This could be a long series.”
“He thinks he’ll be ready to go,” Warriors coach steve Kerr said Tuesday. “But as I said the other night, Klay is always going to say he’s ready to go. What we’ll have to determine is is that a risk? If he plays, are we risking anything?”
Warriors forward Kevin Durant continues making progress towards a return, potentially as early as Game 4 on Friday. Durant hasn’t played since injuring his right calf on May 8th against the Houston Rockets in the Western Conference semifinals.
“He had a really good workout yesterday,” Kerr said Wednesday before Game 3. “Ramped it up, and it went well. He had another one today, it went well. So we would like to increase it tomorrow, meaning get other people involved, he hasn’t played any three-on-three, five-on-five.”
Kerr said before Game 2 that it was ‘feasible’ that Durant could participate in just one practice and be cleared to play in a game. While Kerr noted that the Warriors wouldn’t have a regular practice the day after a game, he did say that Durant would likely participate in some scrimmages with various members of the Warriors staff following a team film session.
“We probably won’t practice, practice as a team tomorrow,” Kerr said. “It will be a film session and a walkthrough. So if possible, we’ll get him together with some of our young guys, maybe a few of our coaches and try to get him out on the floor. That would be the next step.”
Kerr certainly sounded optimistic that Durant would be able to play if he continued making improvements in his rehab. “He’s got to continue to improve and not have any setbacks,” Kerr said. “That’s the main thing. So we’ll go from there.”
Powered by WPeMatico