The Golden State Warriors sat Kevin Durant for Wednesday night's 110-81 Game 2 victory over the Portland Trail Blazers in the opening round of the NBA playoffs.
The star forward suffered a strained left calf in the second half of the Warriors' Game 1 victory Sunday. He did not participate in a Tuesday practice and wasn't seen at the team's morning shootaround Wednesday.
"It's not worth it. It's twinged," Warriors coach Steve Kerr said before the game. "Throw him out there and he pulls it and he's out for a few weeks, you feel like an idiot. So we're going to err on the side of caution, sit him out, and hopefully another few days of rest will get him right."
With Durant sitting, he will have five full days off before Game 3 on Saturday in Portland.
Durant, who went 12-for-20 from the floor for 32 points with 11 rebounds Sunday, missed 19 games with a strained MCL and a bone bruise in his left leg before returning to play the final three games of the regular season.
"I can tell you, I've seen these injuries before. You don't want the next step. You pull a calf, that's a pretty serious deal," Kerr said. "He's bummed out -- he wants to play, for sure -- but he knows that we've got to do the wise thing, we've got to do the smart thing long term. It just doesn't make sense. He understands that."
In addition to Durant, Golden State guard Shaun Livingston (finger) and forward Matt Barnes (ankle sprain) were out for Game 2.
The Blazers, meanwhile, were minus center Jusuf Nurkic, who is recovering from a right leg fracture.
"We're pretty thin," said Kerr, hopeful of having a healthy lineup by Game 3. "Obviously, we've still got lots of good players. We're lucky. We've got a lot of talent, and we've won plenty of games in the last couple years with guys down.
"This is the NBA. Injuries happen, and things happen. You just have to play with whatever you've got, just like Portland is doing now without their starting center."
Information from ESPN's Chris Haynes and The Associated Press was used in this report.
