Warriors' Durant to be kept out due to calf strain

Golden State Warriors star Kevin Durant is "not close" to recovering from his right calf strain, ESPN's Ramona Shelburne reported Thursday afternoon. Durant was injured in Game 5 of the Warriors' Western Conference semifinal series with the Houston Rockets. He missed Golden State's clinching win against Houston in Game 6, then sat out the Warriors' Game 1 victory in the Western Conference finals vs. the Portland Trail Blazers on Tuesday.

He already had been ruled out for Game 2 against Portland on Thursday night. According to Shelburne, Durant has yet to restart basketball activities, leaving no set timeline for his return to game action.

The Warriors were expected to deliver an update on Durant's status on Thursday. Even though Durant won the NBA Finals MVP each of the past two seasons, Golden State has 28 wins in its past 29 games when Durant was absent and Stephen Curry played.

Durant is averaging 34.2 points, 5.2 rebounds and 4.9 assists in the postseason after averaging 26, 6.4 and 5.9, respectively, during the regular season.