It goes without saying that injuries to your top three players down the stretch of an NBA season would be classified as a negative. That’s what has happened to the Golden State Warriors over the last week, with Stephen Curry (ankle), Klay Thompson (thumb) and Kevin Durant (ribs) all sidelined for the last three games.
Quinn Cook scored 16 of his career-high 28 points in a dominant third quarter for Golden State, Draymond Green narrowly missed a triple-double and the severely depleted Warriors handed the Phoenix Suns their eighth straight loss and 23rd in 25 games, 124-109 on Saturday night.
The Warriors are focused on getting healthy, but they are still emphasizing the importance of winning. Golden State enters Wednesday night’s game against the visiting Los Angeles Lakers without five players, including three All-Stars.
Late in the third quarter, Kevon Looney grabbed his own offensive board after missing a shot, went up again and got hit in the face. The broadcast team quickly realized that Looney had one of his teeth knocked out.
Even though early November games are hardly important for the Golden State Warriors, head coach Steve Kerr took a gamble by resting veteran post player David West.
The Golden State Warriors have only played nine games this season, but on Saturday night, reserve guard Shaun Livingston will sit out his second contest of the year.