Kevin Durant Practices with Team USA, Could Return from Calf Injury vs. South Sudan

Having won the first three games on their pre-Olympic showcase schedule, Team USA could be getting an added boost with the return of Kevin Durant.

Head coach Steve Kerr told reporters Durant returned to practice on Friday as he continues to recover from a calf injury.

Kerr added that Durant is questionable for Saturday's exhibition against South Sudan.

"I would love for him to play in a game, but we have to take it day by day," Kerr said. "We'll see where he is tomorrow."

Durant has been dealing with a calf strain that prevented him from being a full participant in Team USA training camp practices.

"You always had those concerns, but I see progress every day," Durant said Friday when asked if he was worried that the injury could've kept him out of the Olympics.

"It's one of those things you just got to monitor every day and I see how I feel after I do certain movements and certain exercises. But my thing is just keep working and see what happens."

Kerr said he wasn't concerned about the injury, but they wanted to exercise caution to avoid potentially making it worse.

"Day-to-day," Kerr told reporters on July 7. "We're just going to show an abundance of caution."

The U.S. has played three exhibition games as part of a warm-up for the Olympics. They have defeated Canada, Australia and Serbia thus far without Durant. The 105-79 victory over Serbia on Wednesday was the most complete game the Americans have played.

Team USA is in London for the final two games of this exhibition schedule. They will play South Sudan and Germany before traveling to Paris for the Olympics.

Durant's looming return could lead to some decisions in the starting lineup for Kerr. He has used LeBron James, Stephen Curry and Joel Embiid in the starting five in each of the past three games. Devin Booker and Jrue Holiday started against Canada. Jayson Tatum and Anthony Edwards were in the starting lineup against Australia. Holiday returned to the starting unit against Serbia, with Edwards coming off the bench.

It would seem likely that Durant would be the fourth starter with James, Curry and Embiid if he's fully healthy. Kerr could also try to play things slow given the nature of the injury and use him off the bench during the group phase.

The U.S.-South Sudan game will be played on Saturday at 3 p.m. ET. The Americans will square off against Germany on Monday at 3 p.m. ET.