The Warriors will be without Stephen Curry for the third time in as many games as the superstar remains out with illness for tonight’s fixture against the Pacers. The Golden State is coming off back-to-back defeats without its star point guard against the Kings and the Nuggets.
Despite this losing run and the unfortunate update on Curry’s status for the night, Steve Kerr remains optimistic about having his star player back soon. In the pre-game press conference, the Warriors’ head coach Kerr spoke to the media about not having Curry for the Pacers game.
“He’s gonna get a workout in [tonight and tomorrow] and go on the trip. We’re hoping he’s able to play in OKC [on Tuesday]. Feeling better, but he hasn’t done much of anything, so we didn’t want to throw him out there tonight,” said Kerr before the Pacers game.
So it turns out, Curry could have played tonight, but they sat him out as a precautionary measure. Therefore, the anticipation is that Curry will be back by the next game, when the Warriors face the Thunder on Tuesday night.
The Warriors are coming off a 25-point blowout loss against the Nuggets in the NBA Cup, where they lost 104-129. Their young core of Jonathan Kuminga, Brandin Podziemski, and Moses Moody severely underperformed, as all of them ended the night with single-digit scoring.
Coming off a back injury, Jimmy Butler helped Draymond Green carry most of the offensive load that night, but they both only finished with 16 and 17 points, respectively. Thus, it shows how much the Warriors need Curry back on the floor.
Kerr addressed the key factors that the Warriors need to address in Curry’s absence, while coming off a 25-point blowout that is a gut-punch to their confidence.
“I think spacing, pace, and energy were one of our worst crash games of the year. We weren’t crashing the offensive glass, we weren’t sprinting back. It was kind of a low-energy game for us.”
“And obviously, they’re one of the best teams in the league, and they took it to us right away. Got the air knocked out of us and didn’t respond very well. So tonight it’s important to bring a lot of energy, and crash and sprint to play with a little more pace.”
The Warriors will have Al Horford back on the roster tonight after missing the last game due to foot soreness. Meanwhile, the Pacers have 10 players listed on their injury report for this game. Therefore, I anticipate a low-scoring close game in this matchup.
