Durant to begin on-court activities, likely out for Game 2
“We have to see him in practice before he can play a game, and he hasn’t practiced yet.” Steve Kerr, Warriors head coach, on Kevin Durant
TORONTO — Warriors forward Kevin Durant has already been ruled out for Game 1 of the NBA Finals on Thursday night, and now he appears unlikely to play Game 2.
Golden State head coach Steve Kerr said Wednesday that Durant, who has missed the past five games with a strained right calf, will begin individual on-court work in the next couple of days. After Durant proves he can do that without pain, he’ll need to practice.
“We have to see him in practice before he can play a game,” Kerr said, “and he hasn’t practiced yet.”
After playing Game 1 against the Raptors on Thursday, the Warriors plan to take Friday off. The next time Durant, who made the trip to Toronto, could practice is Saturday.
That leaves open the possibility of him returning for Game 2 on Sunday, but the chances of him being cleared that soon appear slim, given that Durant hasn’t played since May 8 and needs to get his conditioning back.
Center DeMarcus Cousins, who hasn’t played since tearing his left quadriceps muscle in Game 2 of the first round, is still considered questionable for Game 1 of the Finals. He has participated in several scrimmages and is pain free.
“If this were the regular season, I would throw him out there and he would play whatever minutes he could tolerate, and we would build him up from there,” Kerr said. “This is not the regular season. This is the Finals. So, we have to figure out what’s the best way to utilize him, how many minutes can he play, what the game feels like, what the matchups are like.
“Some of that will be determined by what’s happening in the game, and the other stuff is just internal with our staff.”
Warriors forward Draymond Green tried to lend perspective on Cousins’ situation.
“When you talk about DeMarcus, he’s someone who’s been great in this league for years now,” Green said of Cousins, who was sidelined almost a year with an Achilles injury before making his debut with the Warriors on Jan. 18. “He’s probably not played basketball 16 of the last 19 months. So, that right there alone is a challenge in itself. Then you start to talk playoff experience, where you and I both know the intensity level is a completely different experience in a playoff game.
“Then, you get dropped in the NBA Finals. It’s kind of like some kid who grew up in the suburbs going to private school, then one day you just get dropped in the ’hood and are told to survive. Figure that out. It’s very similar to that.
“Now saying that, if you’re the kid who was dropped in the ’hood, what do you revert to? You just revert to what you know. Whatever it is that you know, you just do that to survive. Well, one thing we do know is that DeMarcus is a great basketball player.” Connor Letourneau is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: cletourneau@ sfchronicle.com Twitter: @Con_Chron