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Warriors to sit Steph Curry and Draymond Green against Clippers on front end of back-to-back
Golden State will rest Steph Curry (right knee) and Draymond Green (low back) Sunday against the Clippers, with both expected back Monday against Phoenix.
The Golden State Warriors will play Sunday's home game against the LA Clippers without Steph Curry or Draymond Green. The team is resting both on the first night of a back-to-back as it manages their injuries early in the season.
NBC Sports BayArea reported that Curry is out to manage his right knee and Green is out to rest a bilateral low back injury. Curry missed the last two months of last season with that same knee problem. The Warriors have been careful with the 38-year-old and are not playing him on both nights of back-to-backs. This will be the second game each player has missed. Both also sat out the Oct. 24 loss at Phoenix, a 131-122 defeat. NBC Sports BayArea expects both to be available Monday, when the Suns visit Chase Center.
The timing hurts, because Curry is coming off one of his best nights of the young season. Warriors Wire noted that he scored a team-high 31 points in 31 minutes in Friday's comeback win over the Lakers. Green added nine assists and three steals in that game. Through five games Curry is averaging 29.2 points while shooting 47.7 percent from the field and 44.0 percent from 3-point range. Green has made his contribution as a playmaker, averaging 7.2 assists and 5.2 rebounds.
Other players are missing too. According to Yahoo Sports, Jimmy Butler and Moses Moody remain out with knee injuries and Kristaps Porzingis is not with the team. Gui Santos is listed as probable as he plays through knee tendinitis. Without five regular rotation players, Steve Kerr's group will need production from further down the bench.
What it means for Sunday against the Clippers
Golden State goes into Sunday at 3-3 after a slow start. It opened with three straight losses: 127-105 at the Lakers, 111-108 against Memphis and the Phoenix game Curry and Green missed. Since then it has won three in a row, 134-114 at Denver, 119-114 at Minnesota and 112-95 over the Lakers at home. The Clippers are 1-4 and have lost four straight, so the schedule gives the Warriors a chance to stay on their run even without their two longest-tenured players. The only other game Golden State has played without both of them this season was a loss in which it gave up 131 points.
The board still has the Warriors as the favorite. Novig, one of the 12 venues on this site's game page, has Golden State favored at -130 on the moneyline and the Clippers at +125. Novig's spread is Warriors -2.5 at even money, -100. The best Warriors spread price anywhere is FanDuel's -114 at -1.5, a point shorter than Novig's line. Novig's total is 218.5, with the over at -108 and the under at +102. The best under price elsewhere is bet365's -114 at 219.5. The venues are fairly close together, with sportsbook hold running from 2.9 to 5.1 percent on the moneyline and from 3.4 to 5.0 percent on the total.
The Clippers game tips off at Chase Center on NBA League Pass and ClipperVision. Golden State then turns around Monday night for the second Phoenix game, which should bring Curry and Green back. Follow the full season on our Golden State Warriors page.