Kevin Durant won’t play for Warriors in Game 2 of playoffs

Golden State recorded their 11th straight home win over the Trail Blazers, and the 12th win in their last 13 head-to-heads, including a 4-1 triumph in last year’s Western semi-finals. The Warriors should win the series against Portland, even without Durant, even shorthanded – Shaun Livingston is out in Game 2 and Matt Barnes still isn’t back from a rolled ankle.

Durant was Golden State’s leading scorer in their 121-109 Game 1 victory.

“It felt like I could go yesterday but Coach Kerr and the training staff and the whole organization told me it would be best to give it a few more days of rest, so hopefully I’ll see how I feel these next couple days”, Durant said.

The Golden State Warriors didn’t replace Kevin Durant when he missed Game 2 against the Portland Trail Blazers on Wednesday. Play turned somewhat sloppy in the first half and Curry and Thompson were hardly in top form, yet Golden State still managed a 29-point victory.

Fellow Splash Brother Klay Thompson wasn’t too hot either, scoring 16 points on 6-for-17 shooting. His salary is nearly too easy, given not only what he did in Game 1 (19 points, 12 rebounds, 9 assists, 5 blocks and 3 steals), but also that he averaged about seven fantasy points more versus Portland this season than everyone else. “Speaking of that, I have a little calf injury”, Durant said, showing his left calf wrapped with blue tape.

“So you can’t get too emotional or too low about the kind of game we had tonight”.

Leave it to Golden State to turn McGee into an impactful playoff contributor and blow out its opponent with a former MVP on the sidelines.

The Golden State Warriors are rolling over the Portland Trail Blazers.

Curry has previously declined an invitation last summer to play for the 2016 Olympic team so he could fully recover from his injuries. Portland center Jusuf Nurkic also was out after he missed the final seven regular-season games with a nondisplaced fracture in his right leg.

The only difference tonight, guys might play more minutes than they’re accustomed to, they may have to. As a team, the Blazers shot just 33 percent from the field and seven of 34 from the three-point line. I would expect Lillard and McCollum to put up big numbers once again, which is going to make it tough for the Warriors to win by 14 points. He could see some run at the four or five spot next to Draymond Green, possibly even in a closing lineup since Portland will probably continue to play small, which is McAdoo’s strength. He sprained the MCL in his right knee slipping on a wet spot during Game 4 of the first round previous year at Houston and missed the first three games against the Blazers in the Western Conference semifinals before coming off the bench in the fourth.

Portland coach Terry Stotts said after Game 1 that he expected Nurkic, who sustained the injury March 30, to be available at some point in the series. The Warriors obviously want to bring him back, but does he want to return?

Naturally, Durant was disappointed, Kerr said. But whenever Green influences the game, the Blazers just don’t have an answer.