SAN FRANCISCO– Golden State Warriors forward Draymond Green will not be available for their Monday matchup with the Miami Heat due to a right ankle sprain. Ahead of the front-end game of a back-to-back for the Warriors, head coach Steve Kerr provided some insight into Green’s injury and when it occurred, after it popped up today on the team’s injury report.
“I got a call from Rick [Celebrini] today that it’s been bothering him the last couple of games,” Kerr said. “It just kind of got worse yesterday on the off day and with the back-to-back, Rick thinks he’ll be ready to go tomorrow, but didn’t want to risk it.”
Green’s taken a bit of a beating the last couple of games. Against the Clippers two weeks ago, Green suffered a rib contusion while diving into the bench to save a loose ball, also falling on his wrist and twisting his ankle in the process. At the time, Green described his condition as “beat the hell up,” with the veteran talking about a lot of the work he had to put into getting his body right.
“I was a little beat up after that [Clippers] game, so that was a few days’ process of actually hammering away at different things,” Green said last week, describing the grueling malaise of the rehab process.
“Even on the off days, I was here for a couple of hours. Then after the game, I sprinted it out, because it just felt like I was in the casino or jail or something, like the walls were closing in on me. You feel it.”
Other Warriors injury updates
In addition to Green, Golden State will also be without De’Anthony Melton, as they continue to rest him on one end of a back-to-back stretch, and Gui Santos, who is still recovering from a left ankle sprain. With Melton, the Warriors have staggered him and Al Horford on back-to-backs so that they have at least one veteran for each end.
The Warriors will have Jimmy Butler back in the fold. Butler was a late scratch mere moments before tipoff of the Warriors’ 136-116 win over the Charlotte Hornets due to a personal reason. Kerr, after that win, said “everything is fine” regarding Butler’s situation, hence why he’s back in the very next game.
Golden State will look to improve on its 11-4 record in the last 15 games.
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