The Warriors are not definitive on the status of two of their stars ahead of a matchup against the Kings.
Despite a four-game losing streak, the sense of hope within the Golden State Warriors might be the highest it's been since January, thanks to the return of Stephen Curry.
After missing over two months, Curry finally returned from his lingering knee injury on Sunday night and had a dazzling 29-point performance in just 26 minutes. With the Warriors essentially locked into the 10th seed in the Western Conference, the remaining four regular-season games are an opportunity for Curry and the Dubs to get back into the flow of things ahead of the Play-In Tournament.
On Tuesday night, a prime opportunity emerges as the lowly Sacramento Kings come to Chase Center to face off with the Warriors.
Warriors Not Definitive On Status Of Stars
The injury report has been a graveyard for the Warriors over the past few months, and though some players are getting healthier, it still isn’t pretty.
Players listed as out include Jimmy Butler, Moses Moody, Al Horford, Quinten Post, and Gui Santos. Notably, Santos is out with a right pelvic contusion, despite playing 32 minutes on Sunday.
However, the real meat of the injury report comes from the status of Curry and Kristaps Porzingis.
Curry is officially listed as probable to play — a good sign for the Warriors that he remains on track in his ramp-up coming back from injury.
On the other hand, Porzingis is listed as questionable due to right knee soreness. Porzingis only played 23 minutes on Sunday after he picked up a whopping 5 fouls in the third quarter and fouled out a minute into the fourth quarter, but he didn’t otherwise look hampered by injury out there in his first game playing with Curry.
If Porzingis cannot go, the big man rotation is going to be bleak, likely needing Draymond Green to slide to the starting center position and opening up huge minutes for new signee Charles Bassey.
Kings In Full Tank Mode
If the Warriors’ injury report looked bad, one look at the Kings’ injury report is all it takes to feel better.
The Kings have listed a whopping nine players as out on their injury report ahead of this Tuesday night game. That includes a majority of their early-season starters, such as DeMar DeRozan, Zach LaVine, Keegan Murray, Domantas Sabonis, and even Russell Westbrook.
The Kings are clearly trying to actively lose games as the season winds down, in hopes of earning the best chances at a top draft pick, but they did defeat both the Raptors and the Pelicans last week.
The Warriors cannot take this game lightly and must use it as a prime rebound opportunity.