NBA Finals 2019: Warriors’ DeMarcus Cousins questionable for Game 1, Kevin Durant travels to Toronto

E.Jay Zarett

NBA Finals 2019: Warriors’ DeMarcus Cousins questionable for Game 1, Kevin Durant travels to Toronto image

Warriors forward Kevin Durant will not play in Game 1 of the NBA Finals against the Raptors while center DeMarcus Cousins is questionable, coach Steve Kerr told reporters Monday.

Durant has been out since straining his calf in Golden State's Game 5 win over the Rockets in the second round. The Warriors went on to close out Houston in six games before sweeping the Trail Blazers in the Western Conference finals.

“Just taking it a second at a time,” Durant told reporters last week. “I try to focus on (the present) and not think too far down the line because I don't really know too much about this injury. I'm just leaving it to the hands of the team doctors and I trust the direction they are trying to put me in.”

Durant, who was having a stellar postseason before the injury, traveled with the team to Toronto for Games 1 and 2. 

Cousins, meanwhile, tore his left quadriceps muscle during the Warriors' first-round series in mid-April. He has recently participated in two scrimmages with Golden State, Kerr said.

“Initially, I thought it was worse than what it was,” Cousins told reporters last week. “It was obviously a panic, but once the diagnosis came out and I realized what it was, I had to gather myself after a couple of days of frustration and anger, sadness, all of the above, and tell myself to get back to work and just do it all over again. So that's what I did, and that's what I'm continuing to do.”

Cousins signed a one-year, $5.3 million deal with the Warriors in July and 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.

“I think people know what I can do,” Cousins said. “It's just about me being healthy. Of course, I want to be out there to help my team and play the game that I love to play, but I also just want to be healthy. So it's an opportunity to do that, and hopefully it happens for me.”

Game 1 of the NBA Finals between the Warriors and Raptors will tipoff Thursday at 9 p.m. ET in Toronto.

 

E.Jay Zarett