DENVER — Draymond Green is officially listed as questionable, but Steve Kerr considers him doubtful to play on Tuesday night against the Nuggets, priming the defensive ace to miss his first game of the season.
Green, 34, is dealing with tightness in his left calf. His likely absence against the Nuggets, in the Warriors’ final NBA Cup group stage game, will stunt the team’s pending rotation changes and complicate their game plan against MVP favorite Nikola Jokic.
“He’s been amazing every day, engaged at practice, working with Rick (Celebrini) in the training room, the weight room,” head coach Steve Kerr said Monday at the Warriors’ practice at Ball Arena. “He’s got himself in really good shape…Doubtful tomorrow, we’ll see how he holds up. This is what it’s going to be with our team at this point in Draymond and Steph (Curry’s) respective careers. Got to try to keep their minutes down the best we can, try to keep them healthy by being proactive. If they’re dealing with nagging injuries, like Steph’s knees last week and like Draymond’s calf now, we’ve got to manage it all.”
Green has been the biggest reason the Warriors’ defense is tied for fourth in defensive rating. Golden State has made that end of their court its identity, and its helped them to their current 12-7 record.
While averaging 8.8 points, 6.0 assists and 6.2 rebounds per game, Green has also shot a career-best 40.3% on 3s. He has also avoided serious trouble after his on-court behavior last year caused significant turbulence.
“Draymond’s been fantastic,” Kerr said. “This is all part of it, especially as guys get a little older.”
Similar to Curry, who missed four games due to injuries, Green is playing a little under 30 minutes per game (28.5).
“We plan for him to play 32 minutes every game,” Kerr said. “I’d like to keep that pretty consistent, and I think that makes the most sense long-term. I know everybody cheering for us wants us to play him more. But I’ve always had the big picture in mind. Including the COVID season — I think I said something about chasing wins that got me in trouble. But look, I had Steph’s career in mind back then. We are in the business of keeping Steph Curry healthy long-term.”
The team’s conscientious handling of Curry has worked. Golden State wasn’t going anywhere in the COVID year Kerr mentioned, then they won the title two years later with Curry staying on the court for much of the season. The Warriors will also carefully manage Green, who only plays intense — and often physical — minutes.
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Without Green, the Warriors will have an even tougher time contending with Jokic. Kyle Anderson, who defended the three-time NBA MVP quite a bit with the Timberwolves during their Western Conference Semifinals series against the Nuggets last season, will likely get a fair amount of playing time. Kevon Looney and Trayce Jackson-Davis will also certainly factor into the Warriors’ defensive plans.
“Coach always says just to make it tough on him,” Jackson-Davis said. “But really, what we want to take away is his passing. Getting his assists, getting his teammates involved. We know he’s going to score, he’s taken it upon himself a lot this year especially to be a scorer. If we can take away some of his guys, obviously double, do what we need to do — it’s going to be a hard, physical game.”
For the 10-8 Nuggets, Jokic is scoring a career-high 29.6 points while adding 10.7 assists and a league-best 13.2 rebounds per game.
The Warriors have already secured their group in the NBA Cup. If they beat the Nuggets on Tuesday, they’ll almost certainly host an NBA Cup quarterfinal game at the Chase Center. If they lose, they’ll likely go on the road for that knockout game, with a 3-1 Cup record and a slim point differential.
The Warriors have openly talked about wanting to win the NBA Cup — and associated prize money — but managing their moving pieces is arguably more relevant. Amid their four straight losses, Kerr and the coaching staff have evaluated tape and statistics on how to adjust their bloated, 13-man rotation.
Those changes will come, but not for the Denver game. Green’s status puts that topic temporarily on the back-burner.
“With Draymond’s injury and him likely being out, it changes everything we’ve studied the last day and on the plane,” Kerr said. “What we’re trying to find is combinations that click.”
