Durant sits out with injured calf

Not that there was time to make adjustments anyway, but with the Rockets and Warriors playing without two of the game’s top stars, James Harden and Kevin Durant, both teams expected the other to play their usual style.

Durant was ruled out Thursday with a strained right calf. Harden already was out with a strained right hamstring. A pair of forwards, the Warriors’ Omri Casspi and the Rockets’ Luc Mbah a Moute, also were out.

“You still have to do what you do,” Warriors coach Steve Kerr said. “You still have to take care of the ball. You still have to defend their pick-androll. They’re without James. We’re without Kevin. But we know Chris Paul is coming downhill at us, and they have a bunch of 3-point shooters. They know we’re going to move the ball like crazy and push it in transition.

“Both teams will do what they do, but both are missing one of the very best players in the league. From that standpoint, the identity doesn’t change, but the people involved, that’s what changes. We know what’s coming. Mike (D’Antoni )hasa formula that is very effective and built a roster to fit that formula.”

Durant played through a strained calf suffered in the first quarter Wednesday in Dallas, scoring 25 points, with 12 rebounds, six assists and four blocks in 38 minutes. But holding him out against the Rockets on Thursday was not a close call for Kerr.

“I think he’ll be fine, but it’s not worth the risk tonight,” he said. “It’s pretty swollen. He’ll sit out and hopefully be ready to go before too long. He woke up this morning and he was pretty sore.”

The Warriors went 16-4 without Durant last season.

“They’re really good,” D’Antoni said. “It doesn’t affect anything. They’re going to do what they do. Obviously, they don’t want Durant out. We don’t want Harden out. It’s part of the deal. They were world champions without him, so they’re pretty good.”