Things are going from bad to worse for the Warriors.
The road ahead isn’t getting any easier for a Golden State Warriors team that has seemed to lost the golden touch they had to begin the 2024-25 season. Heading into their Thursday night battle against the resurgent Houston Rockets, the Warriors have lost their past five games, falling all the way down to seventh place in the Western Conference standings. But things may be going from bad to worse for the Dubs.
It is a worrying sign that the Warriors have already ruled out two of their best players, Stephen Curry and Draymond Green, well in advance of their impending clash against the Rockets, according to the official NBA.com injury report. Green was also absent during the Dubs’ 119-115 loss to the Denver Nuggets last night, so it’s not particularly surprising that he’s ruled out this early as he continues to deal with a potentially serious calf injury.
But for Curry, he continues to deal with a nagging knee injury that already sidelined him earlier this season in a four-point loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder. The heavy schedule early in the season seems to be affecting the Warriors star, as Golden State is simply managing the soreness in his knee so as to preserve him for when the stakes of the season increase.
But with Curry and Green both out, it looks like the Warriors are well on their way to a sixth defeat in a row, although the saving grace is that their game tomorrow night will be held in the friendly confines of Chase Center. Role players shoot better at home than on the road, so there is potential for the Dubs to trip up the Rockets come Thursday night.
Warriors to set trap game for nascent Rockets?
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The Thursday night clash between the Warriors and the Rockets should heavily favor the latter. Houston may be without Tari Eason, but Eason’s absence cannot compare to that of Stephen Curry and Draymond Green’s.
Regardless, the Warriors have shown in the past that they can be surprisingly competitive even without Curry (and to a lesser extent, Green). But a lot of their players have to step up especially if they were to mount a challenge against the second-best defense in the NBA this season.
The onus to carry the team will fall on the shoulders of Brandin Podziemski, Jonathan Kuminga, and Andrew Wiggins, while Buddy Hield will have to channel his early-season form for the Warriors to pose a threat against the Rockets in what could be a trap game for Houston.
