Kevin Durant listed as ‘doubtful’ for Friday

After spraining his left ankle Wednesday against the Pacers, Kevin Durant did not practice Thursday and according to the team is listed as doubtful for Friday night’s game against Atlanta.

After that, he’s just day-to-day.

“Doubtful” doesn’t mean “completely out” but I would assume the Thunder errs on the side of extreme caution and unless Durant is totally fine, he won’t play. At practice Thursday, Scott Brooks said “you never know” in terms of KD playing Friday night but again, it’s very unlikely.

“It’s not in my hands,” Durant told reporters after practice Thursday. “As of right now, I want to play. I think I can play. If we started a game right now I could play.”

The ankle didn’t swell a ton following the game and Thursday morning, so there is reason to be optimistic about it. Still though, there’s no need to hurry back and though Durant says he can play, you can’t really go by that. I’m pretty sure if Durant had both legs amputated he’d say, “You know, I think I can go.”

Durant sprained his left ankle earlier in the season, causing him to miss two games. The Thunder went 2-0 without him with wins in Milwaukee and Boston.

If Durant is unable to go Friday night, James Harden will likely start in his place with Thabo Sefolosha sliding over to small forward.