Kevin Durant Upgraded To Probable For Friday Night

Oklahoma City Thunder fans feared the worst when NBA leading scorer Kevin Durant went down with a sprained ankle earlier this week. He sat out of practice on Thursday and was originally considered unlikely to play in the Thunder’s Friday night game against the Atlanta Hawks with the timetable for his availability beyond that unknown. They got some good news earlier today when Durant was upgraded to ‘probable’ on the official league injury report for Friday’s game against the Hawks. Details of his improvement haven’t been reported, but clearly this upgrade wouldn’t have been made had the ankle injury been more serious than first anticipated.

Durant injured his ankle when he stepped on the foot of Tyler Hansbrough even as driving to the basket in a game against the Indiana Pacers on Wednesday. He was assisted to the locker room by the team coaching staff and went back to the sideline afterward in the game with a ‘walking boot’ on his foot. Durant sat out Thursday’s practice and was originally carefully ‘doubtful’ for Friday night’s game with the Hawks. He was out of the boot on Thursday, but sat out practice anyway which didn’t make things any easier for him.

“I haven’t done anything, man. It’s killing me. I tried to get some shots up but they wouldn’t let me, but I shot some free throws so I did a little something.”

Thunder trainer Scott Brooks is confident that Durant’s injury won’t force an extended absence from the lineup:

“He’s day to day. We’ll see how he feels tomorrow but I would say doubtful. With Kevin, he has the toughness, he loves to play, so when he’s ready, he’s going to step on the court and play at the level that we all are accustomed to seeing.”

Brooks added that protect James Harden would start if Durant can’t go but aside from preserves having to pick up more minutes their approach to the game won’t change:

“I’m not going to vary everything up if he doesn’t play. We’re just going to roll dissimilar guys in to get those minutes. But I’ll make those results tomorrow if that happens.”

The Thunder is currently in 4th place in the Western Conference, though their seeding is by no means secure. They lead 5th place Denver by 2 games, Portland and New Orleans by 2 games and are just 4 games over 8th place Memphis. They’re also 4 games back of the third place Los Angeles Lakers. This means that a strong run could greatly improve their playoff seeding while a losing streak could cost them home court advantage or leave them out of the playoffs altogether. Oklahoma City is currently a +3 point NBA betting underdog against the Atlanta Hawks.

Daniel Scott is a freelance sports writer and noted authority on price per head. His writing has appeared on a variety of sports sites including sportsbooks and pay per head sites. He lives in Las Vegas, Nevada with three Jack Russell Terriers and a kangaroo. He is currently working on an autobiography of former energy secretary Donald Hodell.