Headlines
Kevin Durant on Rib Injury: ‘I’m Playing Thursday’
Golden State Warriors coach Steve Kerr said forward Kevin Durant will “probably” be activated for Thursday’s home game against the Milwaukee Bucks, but Durant provided a more emphatic update on his status.
“You can tell them I’m playing Thursday,” Durant told ESPN shortly before tipoff for Tuesday night’s game with the Indiana Pacers. Durant sat out his sixth straight game Tuesday because of right rib soreness. Kerr, speaking to reporters before the game, said Durant’s rib was feeling great, adding that Durant “wanted to play tonight and we didn’t let him.”
Source: Chris Haynes of ESPN
Bucks star Giannis Antetokounmpo scored 27 points in Sunday’s Game 4 win over the Boston Celtics, but it was his offensive rebound and tip-in off a Malcolm Brogdon miss that gave the Bucks a lead with 5.1 seconds left, and ultimately a 104-102 win.
“At the end of the day in the playoffs, we know we have the best player on the floor,” Brogdon said of Antetokounmpo. “So we rely on him, and he comes through.”
Source: Nick Friedell of ESPN
An infuriated Bradley Beal held his head in disgust and was literally hopping mad at officials who called his sixth and final foul with 4:58 remaining in Game 4 after Toronto Raptors guard DeMar DeRozan ran into him chasing down an offensive rebound.
With the game and potentially their season hanging in the balance, the Washington Wizards managed to overcome the loss of their leading scorer and what they believed were “soft calls” by the officiating crew to even their best-of-seven series with a 106-98 win over the Raptors. Washington finished the game with a 14-6 John Wall-fueled run to win extend its postseason home winning streak to eight.
Source: Ohm Youngmisuk of ESPN
Before the start of the NBA playoffs, no other player age 40 or older had scored double figures off the bench in a postseason game. Manu Ginobili has now done that twice, and has earned win No. 132, giving him and Tony Parker the most playoff wins together of any teammates in NBA history.
“Of course, the feeling of the last quarter was great because we were all doing good,” Ginobili said after scoring 16 points on 5-of-10 shooting to help San Antonio defeat the Warriors 103-90 and force Game 5 on Tuesday in Oakland, California.
Source: Michael C. Wright of ESPN
