Tim Nwachukwu/Getty Images
The Golden State Warriors will be
significantly shorthanded for Saturday night’s road game against the
Toronto Raptors, with Stephen Curry and Draymond Green among the
absences.
Andrew Wiggins, Andre Iguodala, Otto
Porter Jr. and Jordan Poole will also miss the contest. Anthony
Slater of The Athletic provided the Dubs’ full injury report:
Anthony Slater @anthonyVslater
Out for the Warriors against the Raptors tomorrow<br>-Steph Curry – rest<br>-Andrew Wiggins – left knee soreness <br>-Andre Iguodala – right knee management <br>-Draymond Green – Right hip tightness <br>-Otto Porter – Left foot management<br>-Jordan Poole: health and safety protocols.
All of those players besides Poole, who
must clear the NBA’s COVID-19 health and safety protocols before his
return, played in Friday’s 111-107 win over the Boston Celtics.
Saturday’s game in Toronto marks both a
back-to-back situation and final stop on a five-game road trip to the
East Coast for the Warriors, two likely factors in the high number of
players sidelined.
Golden State head coach Steve Kerr
explained beating the Celtics gave his team a little more flexibility
as it prepared to face the Raptors.
“It felt like a really good win,”
Kerr told reporters. “Just knowing we got to play [Saturday] and
on a five-game trip, guaranteeing us at least three wins, it makes
this a great trip and now [Saturday] is a little more of a free swing
and we’ll see what happens.”
Last December, the NBA updated its
resting policies to give teams more roster freedom when not playing on
national television—Saturday’s game between the Warriors and
Raptors will only be on local affiliates.
The league’s memo noted that barring
“unusual circumstances” teams shouldn’t rest more than one
player per game and should try not to rest players in road games.
Technically, Curry is the only Warrior out specifically for rest
reasons Saturday, but the team’s decision to sit out so many key
players in the same game may still draw the NBA’s ire.
Golden State will be without its four
leading scorers, its No. 6 scorer in Porter and one of its top
defenders in Iguodala.
The makeshift lineup’s leading scorer
will be Damion Lee (7.8 PPG).
After Saturday’s game, the Warriors
travel back home to California and are back in action Monday
night when they host the Sacramento Kings at the Chase Center.