NBA notebook: Warriors' Durant (calf) out vs. Rockets
Golden State forward Kevin Durant will miss the Warriors' Thursday night game against the Houston Rockets due to a strained right calf.
Durant sustained the injury Wednesday during Golden State's 125-122 victory over the Dallas Mavericks. He played through the soreness and finished with 25 points, 12 rebounds, six assists and four blocked shots in 38 minutes.
Durant isn't the only star player who will miss the showdown between the top two teams in the Western Conference. Rockets guard James Harden (hamstring) will sit out his second consecutive game and could be sidelined the remainder of the month. Also, Golden State swingman Andre Iguodala (back, hip) will play after he was sidelined Wednesday.
Harden leads the NBA with a 32.3-point scoring average. Durant is tied for fifth at 25.9. The Warriors (30-8) own the best record in the NBA, while Houston (27-9) has the third-best mark.
--Before he led his current team to a blowout victory over a potential future team, Oklahoma City Thunder forward Paul George spoke with ESPN on Wednesday about his plans for free agency.
George will hit the open market after the season, and the Southern California native is rumored to be a target for the Los Angeles Lakers. The decision on a future destination isn't likely to be swayed by the Thunder's results this year, George maintains.
"I wouldn't say it's championship or bust, or championship and I'm out," he told ESPN. "It's all about building. If I like where we're building or the level that we're going at, it would be stupid to walk away from that."
The Thunder built for this season by adding two high-scoring forwards, George and Carmelo Anthony, to a roster that last season featured league MVP Russell Westbrook and little else. The three All-Stars had trouble meshing in the early going, but the Thunder are up to 21-17 with seven wins in their past nine games.
--After missing his sixth consecutive game with a sprained left shoulder, Lakers rookie point guard Lonzo Ball practiced in full Thursday and is questionable to play Friday when the Lakers host the Charlotte Hornets.
Ball told reporters after practice that he was not 100 percent, but he was "pretty close," and he would like to play Friday barring a setback. The No. 2 overall pick in last year's draft has been out with the sprained shoulder since Dec. 23, missing six games.
"All positive signs from him today," coach Luke Walton said when asked how Ball looked, adding that the 20-year-old's status for the game against the Hornets would be determined by how Ball feels Friday morning.
--Field Level Media
