Durant, Curry both question marks
OKC star struggling against Dallas, while injured league MVP may not play for Warriors
The Oklahoma City Thunder are certain Kevin Durant will play better.
The Golden State Warriors may not know until Thursday whether Stephen Curry will play at all.
It’s the NBA version of the Texas two-step.
With two Western Conference playoff series moving to The Lone Star State for Game 3s, the biggest questions surround the former MVPs.
Durant didn’t look like one of the league’s best shooters in Game 2 on Monday, when he was 7-for-33 in the Thunder’s 85-84 loss to Dallas. It was the most missed shots in Durant’s career, and the Mavericks capitalized to even the series with the third-seeded Thunder.
Russell Westbrook said his teammate missed some easy shots, but “that won’t happen again.”
In the lone Eastern Conference game Thursday, Toronto travels to Indiana with the series tied 1-1.
The Warriors lead Houston 2-0, having little trouble with the Rockets on Monday, even while Curry rested his injured right ankle.
Golden State lists the NBA’s leading scorer as questionable.
Here’s a look at the two Western Conference games:
Thunder at Mavericks, series tied 1-1. 4 p.m., TNT.
Dallas seemed to get some good news Wednesday. Dirk Nowitzki and JJ Barea both said they felt better after some rest, and Nowitzki said he expects to play Thursday after bruising his right knee early in Game 2. Barea is hopeful he can return after sitting out with a strained right groin.
Deron Williams, David Lee and Devin Harris all are ailing, making for some long odds against an Oklahoma City team that won all four games in the regular season before a 108-70 rout in Game 1.
“Banged up as we are, we’re here to fight,” Nowitzki said. “We’re here to make this a series, but they’re going to come in ready to play obviously.” And play better, in Durant’s case. “I’ve just got to make them next time. It’s going to happen, nights like that. That’s part of the business,” Durant said. “I’ve just got to keep staying confident. My teammates and my coaches stay confident in me.”
Warriors at Rockets, Golden State leads 2-0. 6:30 p.m., TNT.
Even if Curry remains out, the Warriors have shown they’re deep enough to win without him. Shaun Livingston got the start at point guard and scored 16 points on 7-of-9 shooting during Golden State’s 115106 victory Monday.
“It doesn’t matter if he plays or if he doesn’t play. As you can tell, they’re still going to run their offence, they’re still going to pass, still going to do all that stuff,” Houston’s Dwight Howard said.
“So we just have to make sure that we come out and do what we need to do.”
For Rockets coach JB Bickerstaff, that means playing nastier basketball to match the aggression he said the Warriors are showing.
“This isn’t Tuesday night in February in Milwaukee,” he said.