After a painful close to their homestand on Friday night, the Golden State Warriors will be without nearly all of their veterans to open a road trip in New York on Sunday night.
The team ruled out Draymond Green, Al Horford, Kristaps Porzingis, Seth Curry and De’Anthony Melton for their showcase game against the Knicks. Jimmy Butler tore his ACL in January and is out for the season. Stephen Curry is missing his 17th straight game with a persistent right knee issue.
“We’re going through it,” Warriors coach Steve Kerr said. “We’re about as beaten up as any team I can ever remember.”
In Friday night’s loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves, Horford left after five minutes with a calf strain and Seth Curry hobbled to the locker room with an adductor strain. It is anticipated that both will miss time.
Green, Porzingis and Melton are listed out with injury management, signaling that the Warriors are opting to rest the veterans on the front side of this upcoming back-to-back against the Knicks. They face a more beatable Washington Wizards team on Monday night. Green was scratched with a lower back issue prior to the Minnesota game, but it isn’t believed to be serious.
In response, the Warriors are signing center Ömer Yurtseven to a 10-day contract, sources told ESPN’s Shams Charania. Yurtseven has played 113 career games with the Miami Heat and Utah Jazz. He joined the G League recently after a stint in the Euroleague and had 36 points and 12 rebounds on Friday night.
The Warriors have lost four straight games, falling to 32-34 and sinking to the ninth seed in the Western Conference, 8.5 games behind the sixth seed and only a half-game up on the Portland Trail Blazers. They are beginning a difficult six-game trip that also includes stops in Boston, Detroit, Atlanta and Dallas.
