Rehabbing Durant hits court for practice

Late Saturday morning, when the doors opened to media at the Warriors’ shootaround, Kevin Durant was hoisting three-point attempts next to Stephen Curry.

It was a sign of progress for a player expected to have his left knee re-evaluated in a little more than a week. Still, Durant’s teammates were careful not to get overly excited.

“You just try to let a guy rehab and do what he wants to do at his own pace,” forward Draymond Green said. “I feel like when you start talking to a guy — ‘Hey, man, how you doing?’ — then all of a sudden they want to rush back. … Take your time. Get right. When he’s ready, obviously, we want him back out there.”

The hope remains that Durant, who sustained a grade 2 MCL sprain and tibial bone bruise in Golden State’s Feb. 28 loss to Washington, will be back by the end of the regular season, April 12.

Though he won’t play, Durant is expected to join the Warriors on their upcoming trip to Oklahoma City and Dallas. It will be his first time on the road since returning to the Bay Area to begin rehab March 1.

Last month, in Durant’s first return to Oklahoma City since signing with the Warriors, a capacity crowd greeted him with boos and “cupcake” chants. Westbrook comment: Asked about Thunder guard Russell Westbrook pretending recently to not know who he is, Curry showed discretion.

“No, I don’t have a response to him,” Curry said. “But if you ask anybody in the league, they’ll probably have an opinion on who they think (should win MVP), whether you agree with it or not. It’s not, obviously, my decision.”

In a radio interview with Dan Patrick earlier this week , Curry picked Houston’s James Harden over Westbrook to win NBA MVP because the Rockets (48-22) have a better record than the Thunder (40-29). Westbrook responded on Thursday to a question about Curry’s pick by asking, “Who is he?”