Kevin Durant hasn’t played since Feb. 28 after suffering a sprained MCL roughly 90 seconds into his court time during a loss to the Washington Wizards. But there is now an end to his stay on the shelf in sight.
Saturday.
Per ESPN.com’s Marc Stein:
Story going online now: Golden State is targeting Saturday's home date with New Orleans for Kevin Durant's return, league sources say.
— Marc Stein (@ESPNSteinLine) April 3, 2017
Returning against the New Orleans Pelicans would give Durant three more regular-season outings in which to recapture his on-court bearings. That’s great news for the Golden State Warriors. Even if they’re going to put him on a minutes cap, he’ll at least be a bit fresher and prepared for the playoffs, which tip off, at that point, in less than 10 days time.
Playing against the Pelicans also means Durant will have missed less than 20 games. It’s exactly 20 if you include his non-outing against the Wizards from Feb. 28. He’ll still have rust to work through; we’re talking about almost one-quarter of the season. But it hasn’t even been a month-and-a-half since he last played. It might not take him long at all to get back in the groove of things.
The Warriors, meanwhile, have won 11 games in a row. And now they’re getting a top-five player back. What a world.
