NEW YORK – The Golden State Warriors will be severely handicapped when they host the New Orleans Pelicans on Tuesday (Wednesday Manila time), the first game of a back-to-back meeting at the Chase Center.
Warriors superstar Stephen Curry is out for at least the next two games with a left ankle injury he sustained in their 112-104 loss to the Los Angeles Clippers last Sunday (Monday Manila time).
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Curry is scheduled to be reevaluated on Friday (Saturday Manila time).
“The good news is the MRI is pretty clear, and we don’t expect this to be a long-term [absence],” Warriors coach Steve Kerr said on Willard and Dibs radio show on 95.7 The Game.
Like Curry, guard De’Anthony Melton is also forced to skip the back-to-back games against the Pelicans with lower back strain.
As if those were not enough, Kerr added Andrew Wiggins will also be “most likely out” with a back strain.
“There’s a good chance we’ll keep [Wiggins] out. It’s early in the season. We’ll leave him as questionable, but I’m sort of planning to play without him,” Kerr said.
With three of their key players nursing injuries, the Warriors are 2.29 underdogs against the Pelicans at 1XBet, one of the top online casinos, according to CasinoHub888.
Wiggins and Curry are the backbone of the Warriors starting unit’s offense.
It is starting to look like a bounce-back year for Wiggins, who is leading the Warriors in scoring with 19.7 points per game.
The 29-year-old Warriors forward, son of the late Mitchell Wiggins — who once played for Tondeña Rhum 65 (Ginebra) in the PBA — is off to a great start this season after his struggles over the last two years.
Curry’s scoring average was hit by his 17-point performance in 25 minutes against the Clippers.
He tweaked his left ankle twice in the second half, which caused him to miss the final eight minutes of the game.
Wiggins tried to rally the Warriors without Curry. The former No. 1 pick dropped a season-high 29 points on 11-of-15 shooting, including 5-of-8 3-pointers.
Wiggins’ 3-pointer with 3:47 left in the fourth quarter cut the Clippers lead to one. But the Warriors lost steam in the end without Curry.
Kerr, however, is confident the Warriors will be fine because of their depth.
Buddy Hield, who is the Warriors’ second-leading scorer with 19.0 per game, is expected to have an increased role in Curry’s absence. Hield has been the Warriors’ Sixth Man, a role originally penciled in for Klay Thompson before he decided to leave the Warriors for the Dallas Mavericks in the offseason.
Hield is fitting in nicely, shooting 53% from the 3-point line.
Their young players — Jonathan Kuminga, Brandin Podziemski and Moses Moody — will also likely see a bump in their minutes and touches to offset the combined 45-point average by their injured stars.
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Alder Almo is a former senior sportswriter for Philstar.com and NBA.com Philippines. He is now based in Jersey City, New Jersey, and writes US-based publications Heavy.com and Athlonsports.com.