Warriors’ injury woes deepen as skid reaches four games
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San Francisco — The Golden State Warriors lost four more players to injuries and dropped their fourth straight game Friday night, falling 127-117 to the Minnesota Timberwolves at Chase Center.
Forward Draymond Green was ruled out 30 minutes before tipoff with lower-back soreness. Center Al Horford exited after five minutes because of right-calf tightness, guard Seth Curry limped off in the second quarter with left-adductor soreness, and second-year center Quinten Post sprained his left ankle.
“We’re going through it,” head coach Steve Kerr said. “We’re about as beaten up as any team I can ever remember.”
The Warriors have been without their top two scorers for more than a month. Jimmy Butler is out for the season after tearing an ACL in early January, and Stephen Curry missed his 16th straight contest Friday with a lingering right-knee problem. Golden State is 5-11 during Curry’s absence and sits at 32-34, two games behind the surging LA Clippers for the West’s No. 8 seed.
Green appeared to be moving well in the locker room after the game, but Kerr called Horford’s setback a calf “strain” and expects the veteran center to miss time. The club offered no timetable for the returns of Post or Seth Curry.
The timing is difficult for a roster already stretched thin. A six-game road trip begins Sunday at Madison Square Garden against the 43-25 New York Knicks, with stops in Boston, Detroit and Atlanta looming. Another stumble could drop Golden State below the Portland Trail Blazers (32-35) and into the conference’s 10th spot.
Recently acquired center Kristaps Porzingis provided a rare bright spot, logging 22 minutes and scoring 20 points in his fourth appearance with the Warriors.
Minnesota never trailed after opening a 25-point lead. Golden State cut the deficit to nine in the second half but got no closer. Timberwolves guard Anthony Edwards, cleared an hour before tipoff after being listed with right-knee soreness, poured in 42 points and exchanged words with Stephen Curry, who watched from the bench.
Edwards grabbed at his knee late but later said, “I’m good,” after completing a postgame workout with a sleeve on his right leg.
Source: ESPN
