Golden State Warriors veteran Draymond Green is sidelined Friday night against the Houston Rockets after suffering a knee contusion in Thursday's brutal loss to the Los Angeles Lakers. We also have a brief idea of how the injury happened.

Courtesy of The Athletic's Anthony Slater, it appears Draymond banged knees with Jarred Vanderbilt in the post while battling for a loose ball:

It doesn't look like much in the video, but the injury is bad enough to keep Green out for Friday's affair. Frankly, this is just more salt in the wounds for the Warriors, who are still without superstar Stephen Curry due to a leg issue, and Andrew Wiggins because of a personal absence.

Needless to say, Golden State is beat up right now and Draymond Green's latest ailment is concerning. He's a defensive cog for this team and their leader both on and off the court. Knee contusions can be tricky too, therefore Dubs fans can only hope he doesn't miss much time.

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In 53 games in 2022-23, Green is averaging 8.1 points, 7.4 rebounds, and 6.8 assists per night for the defending champs, who are struggling immensely to find any consistency. They're currently 29-30 and occupy the final play-in spot in the West. Not exactly what anyone would've thought for a team who cruised to a title last summer.

With 23 contests left in the campaign (including Friday), it's time for the Warriors to buckle down and make a run. With Steph still out another week at the very least though, Golden State desperately needs Draymond Green on the court. Given it's the tail end of a back-to-back against Houston, perhaps Steve Kerr and the training staff are just being cautious. That would be the best-case scenario. We'll see if he's back on the court Sunday versus Minnesota.