- The Warriors have struggled on their road trip with a depleted roster, but veterans and coaches are trying to make sure the team’s younger players aren’t blamed, per Anthony Slater of The Athletic. “It’s kind of tough to put them out there in the fourth quarter and expect them to play great when we haven’t, even the starters, we didn’t play great,” Kevon Looney said after Tuesday’s loss. “… They could play better. I feel like they’re making steps in the right direction. They’ve been playing good down there in Santa Cruz. Maybe some game experience is good for them. It’s tough to get thrown in the fire like this at the end of a trip.”
After missing more than a month with a bone bruise in his right ankle, Wizards forward Rui Hachimura is expected to play Thursday, tweets Chase Hughes of NBC Sports Washington. The team announced that Hachimura, who has been out of action since November 18, will be available for the game at Utah.
Hachimura was originally diagnosed with ankle soreness, but an MRI revealed the bruise. Head coach Wes Unseld Jr. offered an encouraging progress report on Hachimura last week, saying he had started one-on-one contact work.
Hachimura’s return is welcome news for the Wizards, who had lost 10 straight games before winning Tuesday night in Phoenix. Washington is 12th in the East at 12-20, but the club is starting to get some of its rotation players back after a string of injuries. Bradley Beal returned Sunday after missing two weeks with a hamstring issue, and Delon Wright should be back soon after being sidelined since October 25 with a strained hamstring.
There’s more injury news to pass along:
- Pelicans forward Zion Williamson has been placed in the league’s health and safety protocols and will miss Thursday’s game against the Spurs, according to Christian Clark of NOLA.com. Clark notes that Williamson was able to play 40 minutes Monday, but he wasn’t at practice today. New Orleans also plays on Friday and may be facing an extended stretch without Williamson and Brandon Ingram, whom coach Willie Green has already confirmed will miss both games.
- Sixers coach Doc Rivers told reporters tonight that Tyrese Maxey, who has a broken bone in his left foot, is improving, but there’s still no set timetable for him to return, tweets Kyle Neubeck of The Philly Voice. “We will see him at some point,” Rivers said. “I just don’t know when.”
- Warriors forward Andrew Wiggins may be targeting Christmas Day to try to return from a right adductor strain, tweets Anthony Slater of The Athletic. Wiggins is sitting out tonight’s game at Brooklyn, along with Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson, Donte DiVincenzo and JaMychal Green.
After defeating Memphis on Tuesday, the Nuggets are the Western Conference leaders, becoming the latest club to take its turn atop the West’s standings. The Nuggets, who also briefly held the No. 1 seed for a couple days in mid-November, are the fourth team to lead the West so far in December, as the conference’s would-be contenders play musical chairs with the top seeds.
Since the regular season began in October, eight different teams have held the No. 1 spot in the West, with five of those clubs spending at least six days atop the conference. Of those teams, only one has spent more than 10 days holding the top seed — the Suns have led the West for 23 days so far this season.
While the Suns look like a worthy contender to finish the season as the West’s best team, they’ve been in a tailspin in the last couple weeks, losing six of their last nine games. The absences of Cameron Johnson (due to injury) and Jae Crowder (away from the team) have hurt a club that has also dealt with injuries to starting guards Chris Paul and Devin Booker in recent weeks.
The Nuggets, the current West leader, have a strong starting group led by two-time MVP Nikola Jokic and own the conference’s second-best offense (behind Phoenix), but they still need to get more from their bench and improve their defense, which ranks 24th in the NBA.
The Trail Blazers have led the conference for 10 days so far this season, but have had some rough patches and currently hold the No. 7 seed, albeit just 2.5 games behind Denver. Like the Nuggets, they’ve had some defensive lapses and are focused on improving a unit that ranks 23rd in the league.
The Grizzlies and Jazz have each been atop the West for nine days, though they’ve appeared headed in opposite directions as of late. Even after losing their last two games, the Grizzlies have won nine of their last 12, while Utah has dropped 10 of 16 since opening the season with a 12-6 record. The Jazz have proven to be surprisingly resilient for a club viewed as a tanker entering the season, but it’s probably safe to assume the Grizzlies will be the better team the rest of the way.
The Pelicans held the West’s top seed for six days earlier this month and remain very much in the hunt for that spot, just one game behind the Nuggets. Former No. 1 pick Zion Williamson has been firing on all cylinders in the last few weeks and we still haven’t seen New Orleans at full strength — Brandon Ingram has been sidelined since November 25 and will add another dimension to the team’s offense once he’s ready to return from his toe injury.
The Warriors (three days) and Clippers (one day) technically held the No. 1 spot in the West briefly during the early part of the season and were considered two of the best bets to make the NBA Finals entering the fall. Injuries have disrupted their momentum so far, but as long as they secure playoff berths and get healthy by the spring, no one will want to face them in the postseason.
Of the remaining seven Western teams who haven’t led the conference at all this season, the Kings (16-13), Timberwolves (16-15), Mavericks (15-16), and Lakers (13-17) are probably the only legitimate threats to make the postseason. It may be be a long shot for a Sacramento squad lacking in playoff experience or a Lakers club lacking in depth to make much noise this season, but Minnesota and Dallas have the star power necessary to make a second-half push.
We want to know what you think. In what appears to be a wide open Western Conference field, which team do you think will finish the regular season as the No. 1 seed? Do you expect the same team to represent the conference in the NBA Finals, or do you like another club to win the West in the postseason?
Head to the comment section below to weigh in with your two cents!
- Warriors forward JaMychal Green has entered the league’s health and safety protocols, Kendra Andrews of ESPN tweets. Green, who missed Wednesday’s game against the Knicks, had one of his best outings for Golden State on Sunday. He contributed 15 points and seven rebounds in 17 minutes during a victory over Toronto.
- Stephen Curry‘s shoulder injury should motivate the Warriors’ front office to make a deal, John Hollinger of The Athletic argues. They have a valuable trade asset in 2020 No. 2 overall pick James Wiseman, who isn’t helping them this season. If they can remove his $12MM salary for next season for a veteran with an expiring contract, they can improve their prospects for this season and get substantial savings from their luxury tax bill for 2023/24, Hollinger observes.
- Warriors forward Andrew Wiggins remains sidelined due to a groin injury. He’s listed as out for Golden State’s road game against the Knicks on Tuesday, Anthony Slater of The Athletic tweets. Wiggins hasn’t played since Dec. 3.
- Andre Snellings of ESPN looks at which Warriors might increase their production while Stephen Curry is sidelined with a shoulder injury.
A left shoulder subluxation will sideline Warriors guard Stephen Curry for multiple weeks, but he’s relieved that it won’t require surgery, writes Kevin Cooney of The Associated Press. Curry, who suffered the injury on a collision Wednesday night, met with reporters before Friday’s game at Philadelphia.
“Knowing that it wasn’t going to need surgery or anything like that was great news,” he said. “Now, you just have to trust the process — no pun intended from where we are. We’re just trying to figure out how to get pain-free quickly, get your strength back and then work your way back into it appropriately.”
Curry underwent an MRI on Thursday that revealed the damage. The Warriors haven’t issued a timeline on a possible return, but the general feeling is that he might miss three to four weeks, which provides another obstacle as the defending champions try to climb above .500.
“It was what we were looking for and it really is the best-case scenario,” coach Steve Kerr said of the MRI results. “So now, we try to tread water and try to keep it together until he gets back.”
There’s more on the Warriors:
- Pain control and resting the soft tissue around Curry’s shoulder will be the focus of the first stage of his recovery, orthopedic surgeon Dr. Nirav Pandya told C.J. Holmes of The San Francisco Chronicle. Curry’s pain levels will also determine if surgery might become necessary during the offseason or later in his career. “It’s hard to say just because this is the first time I’ve done it,” Curry responded when asked how much time he expects to miss. “A couple of guys I think had it, more severe cases, other timelines. You kind of do your guesswork. I’ve tried to stay away from it, even me mentally, trying to predict how long it’s going to be just because it’ll let me know.”
- Andrew Wiggins will miss at least one more game with right adductor tightness, tweets Anthony Slater of The Athletic. There had been hope that Wiggins might return Sunday at Toronto, but the team confirmed he’ll sit out his seventh straight game.
- Kerr stated that center James Wiseman will remain with the Warriors through their current road trip, which wraps up Wednesday (video link from Slater). Wiseman played 11 minutes Friday night, his highest total in more than a month. “He’s gotten a lot better,” Kerr said. “He’s really picked up a lot over the last few weeks with all the practicing (with the G League affiliate) in Santa Cruz, and the game action, the reps.”
Warriors forward Andrew Wiggins, who has missed the last five games due to a right adductor strain, was cleared on Thursday to resume participating in practices and shootarounds, according to the team (Twitter link).
However, Wiggins will be unavailable for a sixth consecutive game when the Warriors visit Philadelphia on Friday and Draymond Green (right quad contusion) will be out as well, per the NBA’s latest official injury report. Klay Thompson is listed as questionable due to left knee soreness, so Golden State is at risk of being without four starters — Stephen Curry, of course, is expected to miss multiple weeks as a result of a shoulder injury.
As Anthony Slater of The Athletic (Twitter video link) relays, Curry spoke to reporters today about his shoulder and expressed relief that he won’t have to undergo surgery, which might’ve forced him to miss several months. Asked if surgery is a possibility after the season, the Warriors star didn’t rule it out, but said that’s not the plan for now (Twitter links via Slater).
- With several regulars battling injuries, the Warriors recalled center James Wiseman and rookie guard Ryan Rollins from the G League, the team announced on Thursday in a press release. Neither player has seen much action at the NBA level so far this season, with Wiseman appearing in just one game over the last month while Rollins has played only 43 total minutes since opening night.
4:50pm: Curry has been officially diagnosed with a left shoulder subluxation, the Warriors announced (via Twitter). The team hasn’t provided an official return timeline yet, but Charania said on The Rally (Twitter video link) that Curry is not expected to need surgery and will likely miss around a month with the injury.
Anthony Slater of The Athletic reports (via Twitter) that the “prevailing sense” is that Curry will miss around three-to-four weeks, noting that the Warriors play 10-to-12 games during that period of time.
4:00pm: Imaging has revealed that Curry suffered a labral left shoulder injury, reports Shams Charania of The Athletic (via Twitter). Charania reveals that his status will be reassessed in two weeks.
2:51pm: Warriors All-NBA point guard Stephen Curry will be sidelined for at least a couple weeks with a left shoulder injury, sources inform Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN (Twitter link).
Curry injured the shoulder against the Pacers on Wednesday during the third quarter of a 125-119 loss, and was set to undergo imaging on Thursday. The Warriors are in Philadelphia tonight ahead of a Friday matchup against the Sixers. Per Dalton Johnson of NBC Sports Bay Area (via Twitter), Curry will be getting an MRI today and the team is set to announce further information on the exact nature of the ailment by tomorrow morning.
Golden State, the defending league champion, has gotten off to a relatively lackluster 14-15 start thus far in 2022/23. Without its best player, the 2022 NBA Finals MVP, for multiple weeks, the team will need further offensive output from key backcourt players like Klay Thompson and Jordan Poole to stay afloat.
As Kevin O’Connor of The Ringer notes (via Twitter), the Warriors sport a stellar 118.9 offensive rating and a +7 net rating with Curry on the court, while those numbers fall to a 99.9 offensive rating and a -11.1 net rating without him. Six of the Warriors’ next 10 games come against teams with winning records, though a majority of them will be home matchups. Golden State boasts a 12-2 record at Chase Center, but of course most of those wins have come with a healthy Curry.
Some league executives believe the Warriors will make one or more of their recent lottery picks available in trade talks this season, says Steve Bulpett of Heavy.com. One of those execs told Bulpett that he thinks we could see James Wiseman or Jonathan Kuminga on the trade block, with Golden State seeking another reliable veteran to plug into the team’s rotation.
“(The Warriors) think (the young players) are decent enough talent-wise, but they just don’t think they can put those kids on the floor and execute,” the executive said. “They recognize their talent and their athletic ability; they just don’t have the execution piece.
“And their logic is this: they only have X number of years of Steph Curry‘s elite level of play, and they don’t want to waste any of it. So far those two kids have just not developed in the same way Jordan Poole has, and I would think there’s somebody out there who’ll say, ‘Yeah, I’ll take one of those young guys and see if I can’t, with patience, get them to develop.'”
The exec went on to say that he doesn’t think it would take a star player to pry one of those youngsters away from the Warriors, arguing that the defending champions simply need a solid veteran who can be counted on and is “not going to get in the stars’ way.”
Here’s more from around the Pacific:
- Warriors forward Draymond Green had an altercation with a fan in Milwaukee on Tuesday and claimed after the game that the fan said “some threatening things to my life,” according to Kendra Andrews of ESPN. The fan was ultimately kicked out of the arena after Green told a referee what happened, but the former Defensive Player of the Year expressed frustration that there aren’t more repercussions for that sort of behavior. “There are no real consequences,” Green said. “Yeah, you can’t come back to the game, or even if you get arrested, nothing really happens … you just hope it gets to a point where these leagues can work with legislators to implement laws, because that’s the only thing that’s really going to correct the issue.”
- Deandre Ayton (left ankle sprain) and Devin Booker (left hamstring tightness) are listed as questionable for the Suns‘ game on Thursday vs. the Clippers, tweets Gerald Bourguet of GoPhnx.com. Booker has missed Phoenix’s last two games, but said on Tuesday that he feels “healthy” and “strong,” per Duane Rankin of The Arizona Republic, so his return appears imminent. The team will be without point guard Cameron Payne, who left Tuesday’s loss due to a right foot sprain, Bourguet adds.
- Bill Plaschke of The Los Angeles Times and Mirjam Swanson of The Southern California News Group argue that the Lakers owe it to LeBron James and Anthony Davis to make a trade to upgrade the team’s supporting cast, given how well the stars are playing and how little help they’ve had.