The Warriors will likely be without key veteran Andre Iguodala for Game 2 of the first round series against the Denver Nuggets on Monday night. Tip-off is set for 7 p.m. PT at Chase Center and you can hear all the playoff action on 95.7 The Game:
Warriors coach Steve Kerr addressed the media before the game, saying he received a text around the 4 o’clock hour that Iguodala was suffering from neck spasms.
“I haven’t talked with the training staff yet,” Kerr said at about 5:15 p.m. PT. “I’ll talk with them and see how he’s doing, but it’s a bummer.”
Iguodala was one of 10 players to get at least 13 minutes of action in Saturday’s rousing 123-107 win by the Warriors. Kerr outlined how Iguodala’s absence could affect the rotation.
“We’ll just have to see how the game’s going,” Kerr said. “We played 10 guys the other night. Most teams don’t play 10 in the playoffs. We could very easily divvy up the minutes between nine and play more Gary (Payton II), more Jordan (Poole), more Klay (Thompson). We could easily do that, or if the game called for another guy off the bench, we could do that too.”
Rookie Jonathan Kuminga seems like the most likely candidate to get an increase in minutes if Kerr is to alter the rotation. Kuminga, Moses Moody, Juan Toscano-Anderson and Damion Lee only appeared in four garbage time minutes in Game 1. Veteran forwards like Otto Porter Jr. (25 minutes) and Nemanja Bjelica (15 minutes) also carved out solid roles for the Warriors Sunday. Kerr didn’t reveal how many minutes Steph Curry is expected to be limited to in his second game back from a left foot sprain.
This is just the latest setback in what’s been an injury-marred season for the 38-year-old Iguodala, who is the league’s second-player behind Udonis Haslem (41). Iguodala was limited to just 31 games this season while dealing with knee, hip and back issues. Though his numbers aren’t eye-popping (4.0 points, 3.7 assists, 3.2 rebounds per game), Iguodala remains a solid defender, facilitator and veteran presence on the floor for the second unit.
