The Golden State Warriors are in the trenches on the injury report. Things were already bad last week, but after three players left in the middle of Friday's game against the Timberwolves, the Warriors' injury issues have reached a boiling point.
The Warriors are now embarking on a daunting six-game road trip, starting with the front end of a back-to-back on Sunday evening against the New York Knicks, where they'll be sending out one of the most depleted lineups possible.
Warriors May Be Missing Nine Players
The Warriors may end up missing a staggering nine players for their game against the Knicks.
Some expected appearances on the injury report include Steph Curry, Jimmy Butler, and Moses Moody, who all have established injuries and have missed multiple games in a row already.
De'Anthony Melton will be missing this game, marking yet another back-to-back he's unable to play this season as he continues to work back from his ACL tear from last year.
Kristaps Porzingis is also out for this one due to illness management, likely just to ensure he doesn't play both ends of a back-to-back. He'll miss the chance to play against the team that drafted him, the Knicks, in Madison Square Garden, where he made a lot of noise in the late 2010's.
The four players who got injured on Friday are out or questionable. Draymond Green, who was ruled out before tipoff, will be out again for back injury management. Al Horford will be out with a right soleus strain, while Seth Curry is out with a left adductor strain. Finally, Quinten Post is the lone questionable player on the injury report, dealing with a left ankle sprain.
All in all, the Warriors have listed a staggering $193 million in salary as out on the injury report — over 93% of the salary they're paying. Though they'll want to stay positive, it would be nothing short of a miracle for them to pick up a road win against the third-best team in the Eastern Conference.
Knicks Remain Largely Healthy
In the complete opposite realm, the Knicks are largely healthy for this game. Outside of Josh Hart, who is probable to play through left knee soreness, and Miles McBride, who continues to be out after getting sports hernia surgery, the rest of their main rotation players are all fully healthy.
They're coming off of 2 easy wins in a row over the Jazz and the Pacers, where Jalen Brunson scored 28 and 29 points. 30+ points for the new King of New York would not be far-fetched in the slightest.
They did lose back-to-back games against the Los Angeles teams prior to that and fell to the Warriors, 126-113, in January but without Steph Curry and Jimmy Butler available to combine for 59 points this time around, it's going to be an uphill battle, to say the least.