The Warriors will have DeMarcus Cousins back for Game 1 of the NBA Finals on Thursday against the Raptors after he suffered a torn quad in the first round of the playoffs.
The star center initially was listed as questionable for the start of the series, but coach Steve Kerr told reporters Thursday that Cousins will be active. Kerr said he has a sense of what Cousins' workload will be like, according to The Mercury News, but it's not clear whether the center will start.
“DeMarcus has done an amazing job coming back from the injury, which we felt at the time was season-ending,” Kerr told reporters Wednesday. “He's done an incredible job of rebounding, rehabbing. Now here he is, he's scrimmaged a couple times this week. He's pain-free."
Cousins, 28, hasn’t played since April 16 when he injured his left quad in Game 2 of his team's opening-round series against the Clippers when he fell down chasing a loose ball on a fast break.
“I believe (the Finals) is the stage that every basketball player as a kid growing up dreams of,” Cousins told reporters Wednesday. “To be here is a huge honor and it's an incredible feeling, so I'm extremely excited about it and it makes me that much more antsy to get on the floor and help my team. If that opportunity is presented to me, I plan on taking full advantage of it.”
Cousins, who signed a one-year, $5.3 million deal with the Warriors in July, missed the team’s first 45 games as he continued to recovery from a torn Achilles. He finished the regular season averaging 16.3 points and 8.2 rebounds in 25.7 minutes per appearance.
Game 1 of the NBA Finals between the Warriors and Raptors will tip off at 9 p.m. ET Thursday in Toronto.
4 - Here are four stats on @StephenCurry30's playoff career ahead of the #NBAFinals. Knowledge. pic.twitter.com/KefieSE9xa
— OptaLarry🏀 (@OptaLarry) May 24, 2019