The Golden State Warriors are already without one of their most valuable players, and now, they’ll have to overcome the absence of a second All-Star.
Less than 90 minutes before the Warriors were scheduled to tip off against the Charlotte Hornets, Draymond Green was ruled out with right shoulder soreness. Warriors’ head coach Steve Kerr didn’t tell traveling media members who would start in Green’s place on Wednesday night, but ESPN’s Chris Haynes reported that rookie Jordan Bell will take Green’s spot with the first unit.
Golden State plans to start rookie Jordan Bell tonight at Charlotte in place of Draymond Green (shoulder soreness), league sources tell ESPN.
— Chris Haynes (@ChrisBHaynes) December 6, 2017
On Wednesday morning, Golden State assistant coach Mike Brown appeared on KNBR and said that recently re-called G-League guard Quinn Cook would start in place of an injured Steph Curry, who is out for at least two weeks with a right ankle sprain. Curry suffered the injury in Monday’s win over New Orleans, as he rolled his ankle attempting to close out on a three-point attempt with about a minute left in the game.
Without Curry and Green, the onus is on Kevin Durant and Klay Thompson to pick up the slack for a Warriors’ team that will attempt to navigate through the fifth game of its road trip without a two-time MVP and a reigning Defensive Player of the Year.
Golden State’s bench will also be short-handed on Wednesday night, as reserve guard Patrick McCaw was ruled out with a nose contusion. The San Francisco Chronicle’s Connor Letorneau reported that McCaw has entered the team’s concussion protocol, which means the second-year player out of UNLV could miss multiple games.
McCaw likely would have been a candidate to start in Curry’s place against Charlotte, because Brown said Wednesday morning that Golden State wants to keep backup point guard Shaun Livingston’s minutes limited to ensure he can play in end of half and end of game situations.