Kevin Durant Injury Update: 'Hopefully I am Ready to Go'

Originally Published: Mar 3, 2011 9:25 AM CDT

Thunder Cruise Past Indiana, Durant Leaves with Injury

Scott Brooks Post Game News Conference

Oklahoma Sports Staff and Wire Reports

OKLAHOMA CITY—Wednesday night, Thunder forward Kevin Durant stepped on the foot of Indiana’s Tyler Hansbrough and sprained his left ankle, but after the game KD seemed hopeful for a return by Friday.

"It's just a little tweak. I did it before." said Durant to reporters after the game. “I've just got to see how it feels in the morning and hopefully I'm ready to go. I'm glad we got the win."

The sprain occurred with 2:44 left in the third quarter when Durant stepped on Hansbrough’s foot while driving to the basket. Durant was fouled on the play and sank both free throws before immediately exiting the game in evident pain and needing help from trainers to get to the locker room.

This isn’t the first time Durant has tweaked his left ankle, but says he expects to be able to play Friday in the Thunder’s road game against Atlanta.

In November, he missed two games after spraining the same ankle. That time he did not wear a protective boot but this time around, Durant left the arena with a precautionary walking boot on his left foot.

"We'll see tomorrow. I really can't tell," Durant said when asked how this injury compared to the last one. "It's gotten better since I got off the floor, so hopefully that's a good sign."

After the game, Durant spoke to reporters and joked about the injury saying "I'm out for the year. No, just playing."

Durant scored 21 points before leaving in the third quarter and not returning to play, but the Thunder would cruise to a 113-89 over the Pacers.

The Thunder will tip off against Atlanta at 6:30 CT on Friday.

Durant currently leads the NBA in scoring with an average of 28.5 points per contest.

Oklahoma Sports will update as more details become available.