The Golden State Warriors are in a 3-1 hole heading into tonight’s NBA Finals Game 5 in Toronto. The Warriors — who came up short in their attempts to beat the Raptors in the regular season even once with Kevin Durant — have been lost and out of sorts, struggling to contend without him.
Durant hasn’t played since the semifinals series against the Houston Rockets when he went down with a calf strain that turned out to be more serious than originally thought. He missed the rest of the Rockets series and all of the Western Conference Finals against the Portland Trail Blazers.
Finally, he was healthy enough to attempt a scrimmage on Thursday, but it reportedly did not go well.
Yet, what a difference four days make.
According to Connor Letourneau of The San Francisco Chronicle and Monte Poole of NBC Sports, Durant is expected to play tonight, with Letourneau confirming that “Durant is expected to be a full-go.”
Poole, meanwhile, reported that the Warriors are continuing to list Durant as a “game-time decision,” but that “multiple league sources” confirmed to him Durant will be “a full go.”
The Warriors certainly need Durant’s services to have a chance against the ferocious Raptors who now can taste blood and are poised for the kill and their franchise’s first championship.
Can the Warriors muster the magic of old to keep their three-peat chances alive in hostile territory?
Game 5 tips off from Scotiabank Arena in Toronto just after 9:00 p.m. ET on ABC.
