The Golden State Warriors will be short-handed for Thursday’s road game against the Philadelphia 76ers, but it remains to be determined exactly how undermanned they’ll be.
Golden State coach Steve Kerr acknowledged Tuesday that the team will not have Steph Curry (left quad contusion and muscle strain) for the entirety of its three-game road swing.
“He will not make the trip. He’s going to stay home,” Kerr said. “It was a long shot for him to play in the back-to-back (Saturday and Sunday), and we don’t play again till (next) Friday. So it just makes perfect sense for him to stay home … get the rehab done here, get his work in, and hopefully be ready for Minnesota next Friday.”
Curry’s absence typically means a heavier offensive load for Jimmy Butler, but that could be an issue Thursday, as well.
Butler exited Tuesday’s loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder at halftime due to a sore left knee. He is listed as questionable for Thursday’s contest.
“I don’t know anything more,” Kerr said after the game. “I didn’t even know until I got out there and I was drawing up a play with a minute to go (in the first half), and somebody came in the huddle and said Jimmy’s down in the training room.”
Al Horford (sciatic nerve), Trayce Jackson-Davis (knee), Jonathan Kuminga (ankle) and Quinten Post (ankle) also are questionable to face the 76ers.
Without two of their top players in the second half, the Warriors struggled to hang with the league-best Thunder. They knocked down 18 3-pointers — including three apiece by Draymond Green and Brandin Podziemski — but still came up short in a 124-112 decision.
“We’re going to get better over the next couple of games playing as a unit, and hopefully get some wins until the main guys get back,” said veteran guard Seth Curry, who scored 14 points on 6-of-7 shooting in his Golden State debut.
Warriors guard De’Anthony Melton (knee) is slated to make his season debut after recovering from an ACL tear sustained nearly 13 months ago.
Philadelphia certainly knows a thing or two about taking the court short-handed. The team continues to play the majority of its games without Joel Embiid (knee), while Paul George, VJ Edgecombe and Jared McCain also have missed chunks of time this season.
“I think we’re getting better,” Tyrese Maxey said after Tuesday’s 121-102 victory over the Washington Wizards. “It’s a little difficult with guys in, guys out — that’s hard creating continuity — but I think we’ve done a good job competing every single night.”
Maxey has been the one constant for Philadelphia. He has scored 20 points or more in every game this season and is averaging 32.5 points — third in the league entering Wednesday’s action. In the win over Washington, Maxey poured in 35 points in 29 minutes in his latest dynamic performance.
“Whenever I start thinking, ‘Jeez, is he going to be able to continue doing that?’ then he just goes out and makes six or seven possessions like, ‘I’m going to do whatever I want out there,'” coach Nick Nurse described.
The Sixers are looking to win back-to-back games for the first time since their 4-0 start to the season. The Warriors, meanwhile, are hoping to avoid losing for the sixth time in eight games.
This is the first matchup between Philadelphia and Golden State this season. The teams split their season series a year ago with each winning on their home court.
