TORONTO, ON - JUNE 1: Kevin Durant of the Golden State Warriors during practice and media availability as part of the 2019 NBA Finals on June 01, 2019 at Scotiabank Arena in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2019 NBAE

Durant out for Game 4, Thompson expected to play

7 years ago
Noah Graham / National Basketball Association / Getty

Golden State Warriors forward Kevin Durant will miss Game 4 of the NBA Finals against the Toronto Raptors on Friday as he continues to recover from a calf injury, head coach Steve Kerr announced Thursday, according to The New York Times' Marc Stein.

"The training staff says he's not ready to play yet - that's all," Kerr said.

It will be the ninth straight game Durant's missed since suffering the injury in Game 5 of the Western Conference semifinals against the Houston Rockets.

Kerr also announced that Klay Thompson is expected to return next game after missing the previous contest with a hamstring injury.

The head coach was optimistic that Durant would practice this week and subsequently return to the court. However, Kerr admitted that the two-time Finals MVP's calf isn't physically fit for such activity.

Kerr added that he hopes Durant will return should the series extend further and that the superstar hasn't suffered a setback.

"The hope would be that he could still make it back for the end of this series," he said, according to ESPN's Nick Friedell.

The Warriors lost 123-109 to the Raptors on Wednesday to go down 2-1 in the series.

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