SAN FRANCISCO – If the Golden State Warriors' situation couldn't get worse, a team already without stars Stephen Curry and Jimmy Butler, it just did in their 127-117 loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves on Friday night.
Al Horford, Quinten Post, and Seth Curry all exited midway through Golden State's fourth loss in a row. And before that, Draymond Green was scratched 20 minutes before the game even began. That left the Warriors scrambling for healthy bodies as T-Wolves star Anthony Edwards finished with 42 points on 13-of-22 shooting.
After the game, Dubs coach Steve Kerr acknowledged how depleted and injured the Warriors are right now as they fell to 32-34 on the season.
“We're going through it for sure,” Kerr said. “But you saw how hard the guys played and stayed in it and got the fans into it. And we can't ask anything more of our players right now. What they're giving effort-wise and playing together. But yeah, we're about as beaten up as any team I can ever remember.”
Beaten up is an understatement.
Across the seven players sidelined due to injury, the Warriors were missing over $160-million in salary. That's nearly 70% of their $233,853,209 payroll. And to add insult to literal injury, this latest skid has allowed the Los Angeles Clippers to overtake them for the eighth seed, putting them just a half game ahead of the Portland Trail Blazers in 10th.
The status of the injured Warriors
However, whether these latest injuries will persist remains to be seen.
Kerr had no post-game update on Green, Post, or Curry. As for Horford, Kerr did have a couple of details on the veteran big man's status. While the team announced during the game that Horford was ruled out with right calf soreness, Kerr postgame described Horford's injury as a “strain.”
“With the calf strain, I have no idea how long Al will be out,” Kerr said. “But I would anticipate, with the calf, we're not going to rush him back.”
With Horford out for presumably a while, Kerr expects to turn to Kristaps Porzingis to start in the meantime. Porzingis, who's also had his bouts with injury this season and throughout his career, has put together a couple of encouraging games after missing six straight with an illness. Porzingis finished with 20 points in 19 minutes of action, the most amount of points he has scored in his four games for the Warriors.
“Feeling alright,” Porzingis said after the game. “Step by step, trying to get back into really good shape. Still have a way to go, for sure, but happy with the progress so far.”
Holding down the fort for Golden State
In the meantime, it will be up to Porzingis and the rest of the healthy Warriors to weather this latest storm of injuries.
But with injuries come opportunities. Brandin Podziemski, who's put together a good stretch of basketball since Curry went down, understands that common NBA maxim.
“I look at it as a blessing in disguise,” Podziemski said optimistically after collecting 25 points and 10 rebounds in the loss.
“Just because it's an opportunity and you're able to build confidence when you're out there, especially when there's no expectation, and people are probably expecting us to lose. So it's a blessing for me just knowing that when other guys come back, that confidence that you build up, you can be ready to continue to show that when they get back.”
There is the obvious concern that with not enough healthy bodies, the remaining players could burn out with the added workload. But Kerr isn't too concerned with that potential issue. He pointed to the diligence of the medical staff in monitoring that potential problem and the youth of the remaining players.
Regardless, Kerr's keeping an optimistic outlook, chalking up this latest stretch of injuries as something they just have to power past.
“I just feel like there's actually brighter days ahead,” Kerr said. “So you just have to get through a tough spot.”
