The Warriors will be playing the Cleveland Cavaliers with a skeleton crew on Friday night.
A day after suffering a 121-118 overtime loss to the Boston Celtics, Golden State will sit Steph Curry, Draymond Green, Klay Thompson and Andrew Wiggins. The Warriors are being cautious with their veterans on the second leg of a back-to-back, while Curry, Thompson and Wiggins have each been dealing with respective injuries.
Curry has played in five games since returning from his left shoulder injury, but is listed out with left hip tightness. Wiggins has struggled to find his rhythm in six games back from an adductor strain and is listed out with left foot soreness. Draymond will be sidelined with right big toe soreness. Klay is yet to play in both games of back-to-backs since his return in January 2022. The quick turnaround between games probably made this decision for the Warriors a lot easier.
That means four of Golden State’s five starters will be out of the lineup. On Thursday, coach Steve Kerr went to a small starting five, inserting guard Jordan Poole for big man Kevon Looney. Poole and Looney both figure to be in the starting five on Friday, from there it will be a patchwork crew for Kerr.
Andre Iguodala will miss his fourth straight game due to hip soreness. He played in three games after sitting out the first 39. The Warriors will receive some much needed reinforcements in the frontcourt, though, as Jonathan Kuminga and JaMychal Green are both listed as probable.
Kuminga had turned into a key defensive stopper for Kerr’s rotation before a foot sprain sidelined him the past eight games. Green hasn’t played since Dec. 18, missing the past 14 games while in the NBA’s health and safety protocols and dealing with a leg infection.
Golden State will likely burn another game for two-way players Anthony Lamb and Ty Jerome Friday. Lamb has played in 37 of a max 50 NBA games so far, while Jerome has suited up for 30 of his 50 games.
Center James Wiseman remains out with an ankle sprain, but Kuminga and fellow youngsters Moses Moody and Patrick Baldwin Jr. could get some big minutes Friday against the Cavs.
