Kerr hopeful Durant will be available in potential Western finals series

If the Golden State Warriors can stave off the Houston Rockets in the final two games of their best-of-seven series, head coach Steve Kerr is optimistic that Kevin Durant - who suffered a strained right calf during Game 5 on Wednesday - will be available to play in the Western Conference finals.

"I think it's good news," Kerr said Thursday, according to ESPN's Nick Friedell. "Calf strain, he's had them before. He's responded well. Obviously, we're disappointed he won't be able to play in this series. If we're able to win the series and move on, looks good for his return in the not-too-distant future."

Durant underwent an MRI on Thursday and was subsequently ruled out for at least one week. He suffered the non-contact injury late in the third quarter after drilling a jumper over the outstretched arm of guard Iman Shumpert.

The reigning champion Warriors held on for a 104-99 victory at Oracle Arena to take a 3-2 series lead. Even without Durant in the lineup, Kerr still has faith in his roster to close out the Rockets.

"He's been the best player in the NBA in the playoffs; he's been phenomenal. And so - it's obviously a huge loss, but our team has a lot of confidence," Kerr added. "They trust each other; they've won championships together.

"So we come out and we give it our best shot, and we try to mix and match the lineups and find some minutes and some contributions where we haven't had them so far in this series. Guys'll get opportunities who haven't had an opportunity yet. So it'll be a little different, but no reason why we can't go get a win."

Durant was averaging 33.2 points, five rebounds, and 4.4 assists in 33.2 minutes per game against Houston prior to getting hurt.

Game 6 goes down at the Toyota Center on Friday.