Steph Curry, Jimmy Butler managing injuries as Warriors enter play-in tournament
SAN FRANCISCO – The Warriors will have only one day off between their regular season finale, a 124-119 overtime loss to the Clippers, and their play-in game against the visiting Grizzlies on Tuesday.
That means that Warriors stars Steph Curry, Jimmy Butler and Draymond Green – all in their mid-30s – will not have much time to recover from their various bumps and bruises.
Butler played 48 minutes and Curry and Green each played for 38 in Sunday’s loss.
Butler, who scored 30 points, was seen limping late in the game after Kawhi Leonard kneed him in the left thigh.
He does not expect it to affect him moving forward and had played to type with his plans to help the injury recover.
“I’ll go home, play some dominos, drink some coffee,” Butler said. “That’ll help me feel better.”
Curry is still nursing a sore thumb after injuring it in the first quarter of Friday’s game against Portland, but told media postgame that it is improving.
“It’s getting better, it’s fine. I try to not think about it too much,” Curry said, his thumb enveloped in a white wrap.
If Curry was bothered much by his ailing thumb, it certainly did not look like it.
“I’m not worried about Steph,” Kerr said. “I mean, sore thumb, and he goes 7 for 12 from 3 and 36 points. So Steph is Steph.”
Curry has also been dealing with a pelvic contusion suffered last month against Toronto, one that has required him to wear protective gear since late March.
Green briefly left Sunday’s barnburner in the first quarter after falling hard to the floor while diving for a loose ball.
He remained down for a few moments while holding his neck.
After going back to the locker room for a few minutes, Green returned and immediately checked back into the game.
Green said the team will not have any problems with the short turnaround between games.
“We’ll be fine,” Green said. “We’re not playing back-to-backs or anything like that. We just have to get there.”
Kerr said that the team will have Monday off, and then undergo a light walkthrough on Tuesday before the game.