
The Golden State Warriors have just one game remaining before they're blessed with an entire week off for the All-Star Break. However, it might be one of the most daunting games of the year, considering the opponent and the players the Dubs have available.
The San Antonio Spurs will be coming to Chase Center less than 24 hours after embarrassing the Los Angeles Lakers at Crypto.com Arena. Victor Wembanyama had 17 points in the first five minutes of the game and ended up with an efficient 40-point, 12-rebound double-double in just 26 minutes.
The Warriors will have their hands full dealing with the Frenchman and the rest of the Spurs, who currently occupy the No. 2 spot in the Western Conference. However, the back-to-back nature of the game for the Spurs and the motivation of a week-long break may be enough to spur another incredible upset.
The players listed as out on the Warriors' injury report for Wednesday's game aren't exactly a surprise. The list of five players includes Steph Curry, Jimmy Butler, Kristaps Porzingis, Seth Curry, and LJ Cryer.
Butler is, of course, out for the season due to his torn ACL. He just got surgery on it and is now on the road to rehab. Seth Curry is also still rehabbing from his sciatic issue and should be reevaluated again sometime next week.
Steph Curry and Porzingis were both pretty much expected to be out through the All-Star Break, as well. Steve Kerr had announced on Tuesday that Curry would miss the Spurs game and the All-Star Game due to his knee injury, aiming to get the maximum amount of rest before coming out of the break.
For Porzingis, his Achilles tendinitis is being worked on by the Warriors' training/medical staff, and the newest member of the Dubs expressed his desire to play right out of the gate after the All-Star Break, too.
Finally, LJ Cryer and his hamstring injury haven't had much news revealed about it, but the two-way guard has only played garbage time minutes in three games back in mid-January before he suffered the injury.
There are also two questionable players on the injury report for the Warriors that may be difference-makers against the Spurs: De'Anthony Melton and Will Richard. The former is dealing with a left glute contusion, while the latter has a right knee contusion. Both of them played significant minutes in the Grizzlies game, but teams are always more cautious ahead of the All-Star Break, so it wouldn't be surprising to see their go/no-go decisions swing either way.
Despite it being a back-to-back for the Spurs, they're not holding back against the Warriors. Importantly, the two stars of the team, Wembanyama and De'Aaron Fox, are both nowhere to be found on the injury report.
However, their third best player, reigning Rookie of the Year Stephon Castle, is on there, listed as questionable due to a pelvic contusion. Castle played just 12 minutes yesterday and left the game early, but is still only four days removed from posting a monster 40-point, 12-rebound, 12-assist triple-double against the Mavericks.
Joining Castle on the injury report is former Warriors Lindy Waters III, who is out with a left knee hyperextension.
Finally, the breaking news from this afternoon affects the report, too, as it was revealed that forward Jeremy Sochan would be released and is thus no longer with the team. Sochan was expected to be traded at the trade deadline, but nothing ever materialized, leading to this decision. The fourth-year player had only played one game since January 22nd and had mostly fallen out of the rotation since December.
No matter if Castle ends up playing or not, the Warriors will have their hands full with Wembanyama. It might require some miracles to come away with a victory to cap off the first half of the season.