The Golden State Warriors find themselves in a rut as they prepare to take on the Utah Jazz at Chase Center on Monday. The Warriors have lost three in a row to drop to 9-9 on the season, and they could be without some key players against the Jazz. They have released their injury report for the game, and four players are on it.
Draymond Green (right midfoot sprain) has been listed as questionable, while Al Horford (right sciatic nerve irritation), Jonathan Kuminga (bilateral knee patellar tendonitis), and De’Anthony Melton (left ACL surgery) are out.
Horford and Green are the latest additions to the report. Notably, the former wasn’t even on the bench in the fourth quarter of the Warriors’ 127-123 loss to the Portland Trail Blazers on Friday.
The Warriors stated postgame that Horford was dealing with right hamstring tightness, but it turns out sciatica was the actual issue. According to The Athletic’s Anthony Slater, Warriors head coach Steve Kerr said the big man will miss at least three games. Even with the team managing Horford’s workload (21.8 minutes per game), it was to be expected that he would miss time here and there, as he is 39 years old.
As for Horford’s production on the court, the aging center is averaging 5.8 points, 4.3 rebounds, 1.8 assists, 1.0 steals, and 1.0 blocks per game. The shots haven’t been falling, but he has done well otherwise.
While Horford’s absence is a bit of a blow, Green not playing would be a bigger issue for the Warriors. The 35-year-old might have suffered this injury in the second quarter of that game against the Blazers when Donovan Clingan fell on his foot.
Green is averaging 8.1 points, 5.8 rebounds, 5.8 assists, 0.9 steals, and 0.8 blocks per game in 2025-26. The Jazz have looked rather explosive on offense in some games lately, hitting the 150-point mark twice in November, and the 2017 DPOY would help to slow them down.
Green and Horford’s missing time due to their age is something the Warriors would have anticipated, but Kuminga’s continued absence isn’t something they would have accounted for. This will be the sixth straight game he has missed, and there is still no clarity on when he’ll be back.
Kuminga had gotten off to an impressive start to this season and appeared to have secured a spot in the starting lineup. The good times weren’t to last, though, and Kerr chose to have him come off the bench against the San Antonio Spurs on Nov. 12.
That was the last time we saw Kuminga, who is averaging 13.8 points, 6.6 rebounds, 2.8 assists, 0.4 steals, and 0.3 blocks per game, in action. He left the contest against the Spurs early, and it’s a shame how this season is panning out after how it started.
Lastly, we get to Melton, who has yet to play a game this season. He tore his ACL in November 2024, and Slater reported he could potentially be back in December.
