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Sunday's preseason matchup with the Detroit Pistons is another valuable opportunity for the Golden State Warriors' surplus of viable rotation players to make a positive impression on Steve Kerr and the coaching staff. When it comes to big-picture, team-wide takeaways from the Dubs' fourth exhibition game, though, certainly don't hold your breath. Why? Golden State's best player will be watching from the sidelines.
The Warriors officially ruled Stephen Curry out of Sunday's game less than 48 hours after he suffered a finger injury. Draymond Green will join his fellow future Hall-of-Famer on the sidelines, per Monte Poole of NBC Sports Bay Area.
Warriors sitting both Stephen Curry and Draymond Green tonight vs Pistons.
— Monte Poole (@MontePooleNBCS) October 13, 2024
The 36-year-old abruptly left Golden State's win over the Sacramento Kings on Friday late in the first half. The team revealed shortly thereafter that he suffered a jammed index finger on his right hand and wouldn't return to the action, listing his status going forward as day-to-day. Curry then spent the second half in the weight room at Chase Center, going through his typical post-game workout routine.
Kerr used different starting lineups in each of Golden State's first three preseason games, leaving Curry and Green as the only constants. Andrew Wiggins is the only one among this team's 12 viable rotation players who hasn't been on the floor for tipoff so far, inactive since the preseason tipped off due to an ongoing illness.
Expect Brandin Podziemski and De'Anthony Melton, especially, to get additional scoring and playmaking opportunities on Sunday with Curry sidelined.
Stephen Curry seen sporting bandage on injured finger
Take a breath, Dub Nation.
Obviously, Golden State's preference would be that Curry sports a completely clean bill of health with just 10 days to until tipoff of the regular season. Any new concerns about his jammed finger stemming from photos of Curry sporting a think bandage on Saturday at an event in Silicon Valley are forgetting one crucial detail about his injury: The Warriors clarified during Friday's game that X-rays on Curry's right index finger had come back negative.
Steph’s finger doesn’t look great, hopefully he hits out the rest of the preseason 😬 pic.twitter.com/6eQRwsU5ql
— Anika 🦋 (@WardeIICurry30) October 13, 2024
The last thing Golden State needs upon beginning the 82-game grind is for Curry to be dealing with nagging pain in his finger, no matter how minor. Anyone who's played even casual sports knows how long jammed fingers can linger without proper rest.
It's also pretty clear that Curry's jam isn't especially bad, his finger wrap and status for Sunday's game be damned. The Warriors obviously wouldn't risk making his any injury worse by giving Curry the green light for a light workout after halftime of Friday's game.
There's still plenty of indication, basically, that Curry will not just be a full-go come Golden State's season opener against the Portland Trail Blazers on October 23rd, but even re-take the floor for either of his team's final preseason games against the Los Angeles Lakers later this week.
