SAN FRANCISCO — The Warriors’ two best players will watch the regular season finale from the bench in street clothes.
According to head coach Steve Kerr, Steph Curry and Draymond Green won’t play against Utah in Game 82. Their regular season is over.
The Warriors could still beat Utah without Curry and Green, but they’re resting the stars because a win probably won’t go far. The play-in scenarios have crystallized, and Golden State needs both a victory and losses by both the Lakers and Kings to move up to eighth place. Otherwise, the Warriors will enter the postseason in either ninth or 10th.
The Warriors are hoping to play three games this upcoming week: the 9/10 game, on the road for another sudden-death contest, and then the first game of a full series against the West’s top team. That path is grueling — Kerr called it a “gauntlet” — and getting Curry and Green fully healthy for it is the number one priority.
“I’m much more interested in our ability to be ready for next week,” Kerr said Friday night. “But we’ve got to wait and see how everything shakes out.”
Curry, who played 68 combined minutes in a back-to-back earlier this week, will need to be as fresh as possible to take Golden State where it wants to go. He tweaked his ankle late in Friday’s loss to the Pelicans, but the injury is considered mild. Kerr said he’d play Sunday if he needed to.
Curry played 74 games and 2,421 minutes this regular season — his highest totals since 2016-17. He averaged 26.3 points per game in his 15th season while flirting with 50/40/90 splits, giving him a legitimate claim to a spot on one of the All-NBA teams.
Green will finish the regular season at just 55 games because of his suspensions, so his load was relatively light. But he still played heavy minutes when available, particularly at center, and dealt with lower back soreness in the second half.
Klay Thompson and Chris Paul, veterans who could also use rest heading into the postseason, may play decreased minutes against the Jazz.
Before deciding to rest Curry and Green, the Warriors already ruled out wing Gary Payton II (calf strain). Payton’s status could be up in the air for the first play-in game, which is set for Tuesday.
“I haven’t talked to Rick (Celebrini) about it yet,” Kerr said. “I talked to Rick yesterday, and he just told me that Gary was definitely out for today. We’ll see over the next couple of days his availability for the play-in.”
Payton, as podcast host Sam Esfandiari pointed out on Twitter/X, Payton has only played in 63 of 122 total games since the Warriors re-acquired him at last year’s trade deadline.
Source: www.mercurynews.com