Kevin Durant injury update: Warriors star nearing comeback, to join team on upcoming road trip

Kevin Durant, the Golden State Warriors forward, is making rapid progress from his knee injury and will travel with the team during the upcoming road trip to Oklahoma City and Dallas, per reports. Durant had suffered a left knee MCL sprain and tibial bone bruise during an away loss to Washington Wizards on Feb. 28.

In Durant's absence, the Warriors have gone 5-5 and are currently on a three-game winning streak after comfortable home victories over the Philadelphia 76ers, Orlando Magic and Milwaukee Bucks. Due to the San Antonio Spurs' recent slump, the Warriors have regained the No. 1 seed in the West and could likely hold onto home advantage for the entirety of the postseason.

After Durant suffered the freak injury, courtesy Zaza Pachulia landing on his left knee, the Warriors announced that they would re-evaluate his progress after four weeks. Durant appears to be on track to return to the court ahead of the playoffs, especially after performing in shooting drills on Saturday ahead of Golden State's home game against the Bucks, which they would eventually win by a 117-92 margin.

Kevin Durant injury update: Steve Kerr thrilled with progress

Steve Kerr, coach of the Warriors, is very optimistic that Durant would return to the court in the near future. "I've watched him today shooting jump shots. I've watched him go from sitting in a chair shooting to standstill shooting and now jump-shooting, so he's clearly making progress. It's great," Kerr said on Saturday while acknowledging that the team won't rush Durant back to the squad despite his steady progress. Kerr also noted that Durant will likely sit on the bench during the back-to-back away games against Oklahoma City Thunder (Monday) and Dallas Mavericks (Tuesday).

According to ESPN's Chris Haynes, Durant took the initiative of telling the Warriors that he was ready to rejoin the team on the road, a request that was duly granted. Several analysts believe the Warriors, with a healthy Durant, are the prohibitive favourites to win the Western Conference and reach their third consecutive NBA Finals in June. If Kevin Durant does return prior to the playoffs, the Warriors would have played enough games to re-build the chemistry ahead of a potential finals rematch again the Cleveland Cavaliers.