The Golden State Warriors are playing the Los Angeles Lakers in a game on Thursday, April 9, that will not feature NBA superstar Stephen Curry.
Curry, who has played two games since returning from a knee injury that sidelined him for more than two months, was officially ruled out against the Lakers for injury management.
However, while the Warriors are still facing a loaded injury report, there’s a game to be played, and the team announced its starting lineup and final injury news ahead of the matchup against Los Angeles.
Warriors Starting Lineup Vs Lakers
Before the game, the Warriors announced their starting lineup for Thursday in a post on social media.
Brandin Podziemski, Pat Spencer, De’Anthony Melton, Nate Williams, and Draymond Green were all named to the starting lineup by head coach Steve Kerr.
This group of starters comes amid some major injury concerns for Golden State. As seen in the time Curry was out, Podziemski will take on a bigger role, both playmaking and scoring-wise. Melton and Green will likely also be asked to score the ball more, as the Warriors are just missing a ton of talent due to injuries against the Lakers.
Warriors Injury Report, Steph Curry Injury Status
When it comes to injuries, that has been a constant for Golden State over the past few months, and it’s no different for their game against Los Angeles on Thursday.
Before the game, the Warriors confirmed that Jimmy Butler, Moses Moody, Al Horford, Quinten Post, Will Richard, Gui Santos, Kristaps Porzingis, and Curry would all be out.
Some of those names are out with season-ending injuries, some have been sidelined for a few weeks, some with new injuries, and others, like Porzingis and Curry, are just out for injury management.
However, that doesn’t take away from the major health concerns Golden State is facing at this point in the season. The good news is that Curry, Porzingis and Horford could all play together for the team’s next game against the Sacramento Kings, per Anthony Slater of ESPN.
“Warriors are hopeful Steph Curry, Kristaps Porzingis and Al Horford all play tomorrow night in Sacramento, giving them two games of data/reps to gear up for next Wednesday’s play-in elimination game. Horford scrimmaged yesterday,” he wrote in a post on X.
Warriors Playoff Scenarios
Before the game against the Lakers, Golden State is 37-42 and has clinched the tenth seed in the Western Conference standings, bound for yet another year of the Play-In Tournament.
The Warriors could potentially play either the Los Angeles Clippers or Portland Trail Blazers in the ‘9-10’ matchup of the Play-In.
With a win, they would next play either one of those teams or the Phoenix Suns in the second round of the Play-In Tournament. If they can win that, they would be matched up with the San Antonio Spurs in the first round of the 2026 NBA Playoffs.
Kerr has maintained that with Curry healthy, the Warriors can make some noise in the postseason. For the time being, the star appears to still be ramping up from his return, but as seen in the past, Curry has the ability to be a dangerous threat in April, May, and even June.
But for now, Golden State has an uphill battle to even reach the playoffs.
Warriors vs Lakers tips off at 7 pm PST on Amazon Prime Video.
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This article was originally published on Heavy Sports
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