TITLE: Warriors to open New York trip minus Green, Horford, Porzingis and other vets
SLUG: warriors-veterans-out-vs-knicks
CONTENT:
The Golden State Warriors will start a six-game road swing severely short-handed, ruling out six established players for Sunday night’s matchup with the New York Knicks at Madison Square Garden.
Draymond Green, Al Horford, Kristaps Porzingis, Seth Curry and De’Anthony Melton were listed as out on Saturday. Jimmy Butler remains sidelined for the season after tearing his ACL in January, and Stephen Curry will miss his 17th consecutive contest because of a lingering right knee injury.
“We’re going through it,” head coach Steve Kerr said. “We’re about as beaten up as any team I can ever remember.”
Fresh injuries pile up
Horford exited Friday’s 115-103 loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves after five minutes with a calf strain, while Seth Curry left the same game with an adductor strain. Both are expected to miss additional time.
Green, Porzingis and Melton are being held out for injury management, an approach that suggests the club prefers to rest them on the first night of a back-to-back. Golden State visits the Washington Wizards on Monday, a matchup perceived as more favorable. Green had been a late scratch against Minnesota because of lower-back tightness, an issue the team does not consider serious.
Roster move
To reinforce the frontcourt, the Warriors are signing center Ömer Yurtseven to a 10-day contract, sources told ESPN. The 7-footer has appeared in 113 NBA games with the Miami Heat and Utah Jazz and recently rejoined the G League after a stint in the EuroLeague. He scored 36 points and collected 12 rebounds in his most recent G League outing on Friday.
Standings situation
Golden State has dropped four straight and sits at 32-34, ninth in the Western Conference. The Warriors trail the sixth-place team by 8.5 games and hold only a half-game edge over the Portland Trail Blazers for the final play-in position. After facing New York and Washington, the trip continues with stops in Boston, Detroit, Atlanta and Dallas.
Source: ESPN
