Durant scored a season-high 30 points in the first half alone before exiting…
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Oklahoma City Thunder star Kevin Durant reveals that he will take it a “day at a time” after suffering an ankle sprain in the loss to the Golden State Warriors.
Durant suffered a “mild right ankle sprain” in Thursday night’s 114-109 loss to the Warriors after he stepped on Marreese Speights’ foot seconds before half-time and rolled his ankle while going hard to the basket.
The league MVP was called for a charge on the play and while he did stay on the floor as teammates huddled around him, he was able to limp off with some assistance.
“I was a little nervous,” said Durant. “But I knew when I got up and started walking it felt good. So I just wanted to make sure with the X-rays everything was good.”
Durant’s 30-point first half scoring display was the highest first half scoring performance of his career thus far, and while he did have X-rays as a precaution, the results came back negative to allay any fears that the injury could have been worse.
Coach Scott Brooks sounded uncertain if his star player would return to play against the Los Angeles Lakers on Friday, but Durant insisted that he hoped to play but will see how his ankle feels on a day-to-day basis.
The reigning NBA MVP has played in only eight games since his return and he is still playing under a 35-minute restriction, however, there were signs on Thursday that he was getting his rhythm back in an explosive start to the game.
“I’m always positive, I’m always confident in myself,” Durant said. “If I didn’t play well that first half, I still would have felt confident. Like I’ve said, I’ve started to feel more comfortable each time I’ve stepped on the floor, each game. I’ve just got to keep plugging away and hopefully I can go tomorrow night.”
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