For just the second time since the 2014-15 season, the Golden State Warriors have played a six-game stretch and lost four times. It happened once last year during a mini-swoon that ultimately didn’t matter, and it has now happened during the Warriors’ last six games — including, even, a loss to the Sacramento Kings.
Of course, the Warriors haven’t been the Warriors during these past six games. During Monday’s loss to San Antonio, they started Quinn Cook, Nick Young, and Andre Iguodala next to the usual front court of Draymond Green and Zaza Pachulia. On top of that, Green didn’t finish the game due to a “midsection contusion.”
We’ve occasionally seen Golden State suffer injuries, but never to this magnitude. Here are updates on all three missing Warriors:
Stephen Curry is “eyeing” a return on Friday against the Atlanta Hawks. He has been out since rolling his ankle March 8, when the Warriors said he would take two weeks off. This has reportedly been a precautionary absence, since it was the fourth ankle injury that Curry suffered this season.
Kevin Durant suffered a fractured rib March 11, but played again March 14. In that game, his injury was aggravated or worsened, causing the Warriors to shut him down for two weeks as well. That means that Durant will likely return at the start of April.
Klay Thompson fractured his right thumb — that’s his shooting hand — March 11, and the team announced he would also miss time. His injury is the most serious of the three, and The Athletic’s Marcus Thompson reported it might take “weeks to heal.”
Golden State, reigning champs, can’t be seen as anything but favorites for the title, even if there are intriguing challengers. With an 8.5-game lead over the Portland Trail Blazers, currently the third seed in the Western Conference, the Warriors might not fall in the standings even if they lost every remaining game. (They won’t.) There’s a chance they won’t record their fourth-straight 60-win season, but their spot as the No. 2 seed is all but locked in.
So how big a deal are these injuries anyway?
Curry’s injury is concerning because it keeps happening. We knew Curry suffered from bad ankles early in his career, and it’s incredible how much work he put into them in order to remain relatively healthy during the past five seasons. He’ll be healthy for the postseason, and he could probably suit up right now if necessary. But imagine another ankle turn at the wrong moment in May, and Golden State could find themselves in serious trouble.
It isn’t ideal that there’s no timetable for Thompson’s injury, either. Thompson has been an ironman, never missing more than four games in a season until this year. If he’s not back for the postseason, though, Golden State’s depth will take a serious hit.
That’s the secret about this year’s Warriors squad: they have very few shooters. Green and Iguodala are both hovering around 30 percent, while Patrick McCaw is hitting a horrid 24 percent behind the arc. They do have Nick Young and Quinn Cook, but would you feel comfortable relying on either of them during a playoff series? Steve Kerr may have to. Omri Casspi should return soon from an ankle sprain, but the one-time moonball launcher has barely attempted shots from beyond the arc this season.
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Iguodala and Green historically shoot better in the postseason. That, plus the team’s Big Three, plus just one more consistent threat — Young or Cook, most likely — should be enough to carry Golden State. Their sheer talent from their superstars makes up for a lot, after all. It’s strange for a team best known for three-point shooting, including the best shooter of all-time, would struggle in this department. But Golden State has even fallen out of the top-10 in three-point attempts per game.
The Western Conference playoff race is still tight enough that someone like the Minnesota Timberwolves or New Orleans Pelicans could end up as the No. 7 seed. Hell, it might even be San Antonio with Kawhi Leonard back. Against teams like that, Golden State will want Thompson, Curry, and all hands on deck. Against Houston, they’ll badly need everyone available.
These current injuries likely won’t hurt Golden State yet, but they can’t sustain more of them. This team isn’t miles ahead of their competition like last season, where we might have expected an NBA Finals win even if they suffered an injury or two. The Warriors need everyone available, and only then are we confident that they’re still clear favorites.
