Head coach Steve Kerr of the Golden State Warriors reacts from the bench.

The reeling Golden State Warriors suffered another injury blow as the postseason race gets tighter with 10 games left in the regular season.

On Thursday, March 27, Anthony Slater of The Athletic reported that key reserve Gary Payton II will be out for “some amount of time” with a thumb injury.

ESPN’s Shams Charania later added that Payton II is out for an “indefinite period.”

Payton II is averaging 11.5 points on 46.4% 3-point shooting with 4.0 rebounds, 1.4 assists and 1.3 steals in 21.0 minutes across 11 games in March. The defensive guard’s emergence on offense has made him an indispensable part of the rotation.

No More Margin For Error

The Warriors have lost their last two games without franchise star Stephen Curry (pelvic contusion) to surrender their stranglehold of the sixth seed in the strong Western Conference. The Los Angeles Clippers caught up with them following their 126-113 win over the New York Knicks on Wednesday, March 26.

The Minnesota Timberwolves are just half-game behind them as the margin for error has shrunk for the struggling Warriors.

According to Tankathon, the Warriors have the toughest schedule among the three teams racing for the sixth seed to automatically qualify for the playoffs. They have the 12th strongest schedule remaining with half of their last 10 games against the four of the West’s top five teams — Houston Rockets, Denver Nuggets, Memphis Grizzlies, Los Angeles Lakers — and the Clippers.

The Timberwolves, who have the sixth easiest schedule, have four of their last nine games against lottery-bound teams. On the other hand, the Clippers are just a notch below the Warriors in terms of strength of schedule.

The Clippers’ last 11 games feature only four games against winning teams, including that critical match against the Warriors on the final day of the regular season.

‘We Definitely Need 30 Back’

A dejected Jimmy Butler made a candid admission following their embarrassing 26-point loss in Miami where he only scored 11 points on 5-of-12 shooting and was minus-19 in 29 minutes.

“We definitely need 30 back,” Butler told reporters. “But we want him to be right. We’re still expected to win. We got to put out a better effort than we have the last two games. If he’s back, I think it’ll be different.”

Curry’s second straight game absence took a huge toll on the Warriors, who failed to get their offense going against the Heat’s aggressive defense. Their 88 points were their lowest since scoring 85 in a 30-point beating at the hands of the defending champion Boston Celtics on Jan. 20.

Curry joined the Warriors in Miami but did not play even after he was upgraded to questionable.

Golden State coach Steve Kerr said they did not want to throw caution in the wind despite Curry looking good in the team’s practice.

“He wasn’t quite there, we just can’t risk it,” Kerr told reporters. “He worked out yesterday and he looked good but at the very end of the workout, one movement that he made that didn’t quite feel right.”

But the good news is Kerr expects Curry to return on Friday, March 28, against the New Orleans Pelicans.

“Knowing the schedule, when we have got the next two days off, I think it will be a full week when he returns,” Kerr said.

The 37-year-old Curry is averaging 24.2 points, 6.0 assists and 4.4 rebounds this season while shooting 39.4% from the 3-point line.