PORTLAND -- Kevin Durant is back.
The All-Star forward who missed Games 2 and 3 of the Warriors-Blazers playoff series with a left calf strain was listed as questionable after shootaround but was cleared two hours prior to tipoff Monday night at Moda Center.
“It was simple, really,” acting coach Mike Brown said. “Our training staff cleared him to play and if anybody can play, we’re going to play him.”
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Durant will be in the starting lineup, without a rigid minutes restriction.
“We obviously won’t play him for 48 minutes,” Brown said. “But we’ll watch him as the course of the game goes on.”
Veteran Warriors Matt Barnes (right ankle/foot bone bruise) and Shaun Livingston (right index finger sprain and hand contusion), both of whom were listed as questionable, will not be available.
Durant participated in shootaround Monday morning but walked out of the arena with an ice pack wrapped around his calf. That’s not unusual, and it’s done to minimize the possibility of swelling.
Golden State Warriors
Durant scored a team-high 32 points in Game 1 on April 16. He took a blow to his calf late in the third quarter and returned in the fourth but the muscle tightened later than night and the following day.