Warriors remain optimistic Durant will return in postseason:

Steve Kerr remains optimistic Kevin Durant will return from a right calf injury to play for Golden State at some point this postseason but isn’t guessing when that might be. “There’s definitely some gray area with any injury but with a calf injury like that especially,” Kerr said Friday before the team traveled to Portland for Game 3. “It’s going to be how he responds to the treatment and how his body recovers over the next days and however long it takes.” Warriors director of sports medicine and performance Rick Celebrini told Kerr from the time Durant was injured in Game 5 of the conference semifinals against Houston that it would be tough to predict the timetable for the two-time reigning NBA Finals MVP’s healing, based on the wide range in rehab and recovery for this injury. Durant was re-evaluated before a 114-111 Game 2 win Thursday night and won’t play in Games 3 or 4 of the Western Conference finals at Portland, Saturday and Monday. He is likely to miss the entire series given his next scheduled examination is Thursday, and Durant has yet to do any of the on-court work such as scrimmaging full court with contact the Warriors would require before he is cleared for game action. “He’s doing well. He’s in the training room every day, he’s around the guys. He’s actually recovering well, he’s doing well with his rehab,” Kerr said. The Warriors lead the best-of-seven series 2-0, so if the two-time defending champions advance to a fifth straight NBA Finals there would be a chance for Durant to play again. “What did I say last night, that it was a little more serious than we thought? The right way to put it would be with a calf injury there’s kind of a wide range of how long a guy’s going to be out,” Kerr said. “So he’s had them in the past where he was out a week or 10 days. But right from the beginning Rick was telling me that you really can’t put a number of days and weeks on this.

NBA bans Pacers’ Evans for violating league anti-drug policy:

The NBA has banned Indiana Pacers guard Tyreke Evans at least two years for violating the league’s antidrug policy. The league announced that Evans had been dismissed and disqualified on Friday. He can apply for reinstatement in 2021. Pacers general manager Kevin Pritchard declined comment at the NBA draft combine in Chicago. The team said it in a statement it would reach out to Evans to offer our support. A 10-year veteran who will be a free agent after the season, Evans averaged 10.2 points in 69 games after signing with the Pacers in July. He scored 19.4 points per game for Memphis in 2017-18 and previously played for Sacramento and New Orleans. Evans sat out one game early in the season for violating team rules and issued an apology then for being late to practice. He also missed three games late in the year due to personal reasons and a respiratory infection.

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