Draymond Green out vs. Sixers
The Warriors will be extremely short-handed against Philly.
The Golden State Warriors are trying to halt a road skid tonight when they visit the Philadelphia 76ers, and the task at hand just got a lot harder. We already knew they’d be without the recently-injured Steph Curry. We already knew they’d be without Andrew Wiggins who will miss his sixth straight game.
And now they’re down a third All-Star: Draymond Green. Green was listed on the injury report for Monday’s blowout loss to the Milwaukee Bucks and Tuesday’s tough loss to the Indiana Pacers. He played in both of those games, but didn’t play very well.
But for Friday’s game, Green has finally been ruled out, this time with a different ailment: a right quad contusion.
Draymond Green is out tonight against the Sixers. Right quad contusion.
— Anthony Slater (@anthonyVslater) December 16, 2022
With the three starters sidelined, the Warriors are now missing their top scorer, two of their top defenders, their top two playmakers, and their top two leaders. Pulling off a road win against a tough Sixers team is going to be very, very difficult.
Steve Kerr will likely have to lean heavily on Kevon Looney, as Green’s absence gives the Dubs no other viable option for defending Joel Embiid. The only other approach they could take is to try and play the mismatch game and go small against Embiid, by putting Jonathan Kuminga at the 5.
Green’s injury also sheds light on why the Warriors recalled James Wiseman and Ryan Rollins. With Green, Curry, Wiggins, and Andre Iguodala sidelined, the Warriors need to activate all 12 of their healthy players in order to hit the league minimum mandated for a game. If Wiseman and Rollins stayed in Santa Cruz, Green and Wiggins would have had to suit up on Friday and just get DNPs.