"SACRAMENTO Stephen Curry did not accompany the Warriors on their 90-minute bus ride here late Tuesday night, and by the time Golden State tipped off Wednesday against the Kings, Draymond Green and Jimmy Butler had also been ruled out. Without any of the team's top three players, coach Steve Kerr opted to insert rookie guard Will Richard, second-year center Quentin Post and shooting guard Moses Moody into the starting lineup alongside Brandin Podziemski and Jonathan Kuminga."
"Obviously it's more difficult when you're missing your stars, but it's a great opportunity for a lot of guys, Kerr said before the game, adding that he was looking to see energy, pace from the makeshift group. Throwing the ball ahead, playing aggressively on offense. Defensively, containing penetration and keeping the easy stuff away, just trying to put a good 48 minutes together. I'm excited."
"Hopefully there aren't too many games where we're missing all three of those guys at the same time, Kerr said. It just sort of happened. Steph got sick. Jimmy hurt his back. Draymond as well not feeling well. The schedule kind of caught up to us. The hope would be, going forward, when those guys miss games, it's not at the same time, because that puts you behind the eight ball."
Stephen Curry missed the team's 90-minute bus ride and did not travel, while Draymond Green and Jimmy Butler were ruled out by tipoff against Sacramento. Coach Steve Kerr started rookie guard Will Richard, second-year center Quentin Post and shooting guard Moses Moody alongside Brandin Podziemski and Jonathan Kuminga. The makeshift group aimed to provide energy and pace, push the ball in transition, attack on offense and limit penetration defensively to prevent easy baskets. Sacramento also dealt with injuries to Keegan Murray, Domantas Sabonis and Zach Lavine. Podziemski was cleared to play despite a sore wrist. Curry was home recovering from an illness. Kerr expected Green and Butler to be available Friday in Denver and cautioned that overlapping absences of top players creates a significant disadvantage.
Read at www.mercurynews.com
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