The Golden State Warriors will host the Los Angeles Lakers on Thursday night. But what used to be an anticipated fixture will be lacking a marquee Stephen Curry versus LeBron James matchup.
Curry has been ruled out due to injury management, having only returned to full action a few days ago.
The Warriors are playing it safe with their star point guard, who had missed 27 games in a row prior to his return to the court due to runner’s knee.
He returned with a strong showing against the Houston Rockets with 29 points before a 17-point game against the Sacramento Kings.
Golden State Warriors’ Plan for Their Superstar Duo
The team is managing Curry’s workload as it gets ready to play the final back-to-back in the regular season with the play-in tournament in mind.
Newly acquired center Kristaps Porzingis is also out, dealing with his own health concerns, and will miss his second straight contest.
ESPN’s Anthony Slater reported that on the front end of a back-to-back, the Warriors are cautious with two of their main stars. They want to get Curry and Porzingis on the floor in the limited time but in the best way possible to get in shape for the play-in tournament.
“The Warriors always plan to rest him on one side of this back-to-back, obviously coming off this knee injury that forced him out 27 games,” Slater said Thursday on ESPN’s “NBA Today.” “They decided … they preferred to play him tomorrow night in Sacramento that will allow him to play with Kristaps Porzingis, who is also resting because he hasn’t been cleared for back-to-back.”
The Lakers game is Golden State’s first game of the back-to-back set before it goes to Sacramento again in one of the final two games of the regular season.
Curry and Porzingis’ Connection For the Dubs
The Warriors went all-in to make the mid-season move for Porzingis, despite his well-documented health history.
The 30-year-old big man has battled with recurring injuries which have seen him miss a chunk of games every season, even during his championship-winning year with the Boston Celtics.
Despite the risks, Golden State saw Porzingis as a potential upgrade in size and a spacer alongside Curry and Draymond Green.
It was a needed move, especially with Jimmy Butler ruled out of the entire season.
Porzingis has spoken positively about the chance to play with Curry, however, the Warriors guard has been out for a long period, and Porzingis has only played 13 games for the Warriors since he moved. The duo is yet to see full action together.
“They’ve only played eight minutes together,” Slater said of Curry and Porzingis. “They need to hit some reps prior to next Wednesday night when they already know they’re going to be the 10th seed. They’re going to be on the road either in Portland or L.A.”
The Warriors next play against the Kings before rounding up a disappointing season against the Los Angeles Clippers, whom they may likely face in the play-in depending on how results turn out.
Golden State will hope that these couple of games will provide enough chemistry-building opportunities for Curry and Porzingis.
The Warriors enter the play-in as the No. 10 seed without homecourt advantage and need all the postseason experience they can get.
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