What to Expect From Steph Curry, Al Horford in Warriors vs. Lakers Game

Tuesday night in Las Vegas should bring guard Stephen Curry his biggest workload of the preseason against the Lakers, while center Al Horford will not make the trip at all.

Coach Steve Kerr passed along both updates after Monday's practice, and tip-off is set for 7 p.m. PT at T-Mobile Arena.

This is the fifth of six preseason games for his team, and it comes eight days before the two clubs open the regular season against each other at Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles.

Curry has played in three of the four preseason games for the Golden State Warriors, with 10 points against the Clippers in Honolulu, 16 in a 124-98 win over the Lakers at Chase Center and eight in Saturday's 111-106 win over the Kings.

He sat out the back-to-back game in Portland and has only played light minutes so far, but Kerr said Curry will play into the second half on Tuesday, according to the Chronicle's Luca Evans.

Horford, who is 40, sat out Monday's scrimmage, and Kerr said skipping this trip is part of maintenance the team planned ahead of time.

A left knee contusion kept him out of the first meeting with the Lakers and he stayed back for Portland too, though he did log 21 minutes off the bench against Sacramento and finished with four points on 1-of-9 shooting, five rebounds and three assists.

To open the season, Kerr is leaning toward a small starting group of Curry, guard Brandin Podziemski, rookie forward Yaxel Lendeborg, forward Draymond Green and forward Gui Santos.

Bringing Horford off the bench fits the coach's goal of keeping him around 20 minutes a night, but Kerr still wants a strong big man on the floor as much as he can manage, telling reporters on Monday, "I also like the idea of having Draymond or Al on the court as often as possible to anchor our defense."

I like this approach, since Horford averaged 8.3 points and 4.9 rebounds in 21.5 minutes across 45 games last season, and fresh legs in April are worth more than a few October starts.

Back at Chase Center on Tuesday, center Kristaps Porzingis has a meeting with the medical staff while the rest of the club plays in Las Vegas, which leaves the team thin at center going into the opener.

How far this team goes still depends on Curry, who averaged 26.6 points in 43 games last season but missed 27 straight games with a right knee injury, and his choice to stay in the Bay Area puts even more weight on keeping him healthy.

Forward Jimmy Butler III has no clear timeline after his right ACL injury, and Kerr remains unsure about his return date, which leaves the scoring load on Curry early in the season.

The team already saw what it looks like without its stars in the loss to the Trail Blazers last week, so I want Curry to get a long run against the Lakers and find his rhythm before Portland visits Chase Center on Friday for the preseason finale and the Lakers wait next Wednesday in the opener.