SAN FRANCISCO– The Golden State Warriors will remain strict in their plan for managing Al Horford's health in his 19th season in the NBA. The 39-year-old center will not play against the Memphis Grizzlies, the front end of their upcoming back-to-back, according to head coach Steve Kerr. Horford will be available the following night against the Los Angeles Clippers, which will give him a full four days of rest since the Warriors' overtime win against the Nuggets the previous week.

After practice Sunday morning, Kerr explained some of the reasoning behind resting Horford against the Grizzlies instead of against the Clippers.

“We always take [the matchups] into consideration. Against Portland [or Denver], it was always a pretty easy choice, dealing with [Nikola] Jokic,” Kerr told reporters. “I would say this one is a much more difficult decision because Memphis, you know, Jaren Jackson Jr. is obviously a great player. But we opted to play him against the Clippers, [as Ivica] Zubac has given us trouble. It's a really big team, so that's the way we'll go with this one.”

Against Golden State last season, Zubac averaged 17.5 points, 15.8 rebounds, and 3.8 assists. The Dubs struggled to keep the big man off the boards, lacking the playable size options to help Draymond Green in the frontcourt. Horford's presence was missed against the Trail Blazers as Portland scored a whopping 66 points in the paint. 

“We'll lean into our depth and keep playing people in combinations we believe in and hopefully use our depth to get through this next back-to-back.”

Update on Moses Moody's health

The Warriors plan to only play Horford on one end of back-to-back games will be the plan moving forward, as Kerr has stressed multiple times this season. It's the same load management plan the Boston Celtics and Joe Mazzulla used with Horford during his time there, and the Dubs will remain strict with that procedure.

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On the other end of the Warriors' health updates, Moses Moody returned to the rotation in Portland. Kerr described Moody's performance versus the Blazers as a game for Moody to “get his feet wet” and refind his rhythm after being sidelined with a calf injury the past two weeks. Moody told reporters that his calf injury was “really minor.”

“No structural damage or anything,” Moody said. “I got the MRI and everything. Really it was just strengthening it. It was precautionary and yeah, I'm in a good place.”

Moody will certainly be an option for Kerr to start once he returns to full form with his defense and spacing capabilities. When asked what's harder to regain his rhythm, his shooting or his defensive flow, when returning from injury, Moody emphasized finding his role in different lineups.

“I would say, it’s a different flow for different groups you’re on the floor with. So just finding your group and finding your role within that group takes some getting used to,” Moody said. “But defensively, I think that's pretty self-explanitory. Once you got the rotations down, once you got the principles, then I think that comes back pretty fast.”

The Warriors will look to build off a strong first week of the season with the Grizzlies-Clippers back-to-back.