The Golden State Warriors enter Friday’s home game against the Oklahoma City Thunder as 7.5-point underdogs. But if we’re being honest, the oddsmakers are being too generous, as a 30-point blowout loss is on the cards for Golden State.
The Warriors have seven players on the injury report for the Prime Video clash against the reigning champions — Draymond Green (out; rest), Stephen Curry (questionable; ankle sprain), De’Anthony Melton (questionable; knee), Al Horford (probable; sciatica), Trayce Jackson-Davis (probable; knee), Seth Curry (out; pelvis) and rookie L.J. Cryer (out; back strain).
While Curry, Melton, Horford and Jackson-Davis are all game-time decisions, Green has been ruled out so he could be available for Saturday’s clash against the Utah Jazz.
Why is Draymond Green Resting?
That begs the question: Why are the Warriors prioritizing Green for a game against Utah over the ultimate litmus-test contest against the Thunder the night before?
Another major concern is that Horford will likely sit out Saturday’s game if he is cleared in time for Friday due to Golden State’s reluctance to play him in back-to-backs. A similar trend has persisted with the oft-injured Melton since the start of the season.
Golden State’s inability to stay healthy isn’t surprising. They were infamously termed the “Olden State Warriors” at the start of the season, given the ages of Curry (37), Green (35), Jimmy Butler (36), Horford (39) and Buddy Hield (33). It also hasn’t helped that their youngsters have failed to win Steve Kerr’s faith, putting the onus on the aging veterans to carry the workload, which may have led to more injuries.
Can Warriors Turn Season Around?
Jonathan Kuminga was supposed to be one of the youngsters to help reduce the workload on Curry, Green and Butler. Instead, the Congolese forward has received six consecutive DNPs since the Dec. 18 loss to the Phoenix Suns.
For all their issues, the Warriors maintained a winning record (7-6) in December and hope to carry forward the momentum into the new year. Steve Kerr is particularly pleased with Golden State averaging 124.0 points in the final six games of 2025, a near 9.0 point uptick from their season average of 115.6 points.
“Our offense has dramatically improved,” Kerr said after Wednesday’s 132-125 victory over the Charlotte Hornets, the last game of the 2025 calendar year.
“Draymond just told me six games in a row with 120 or more. We haven’t done that in a while. It just feels like we’ve got a better rhythm.”
After Friday’s game against the Thunder, the Warriors have a relatively easy schedule in January, which includes eight contests against teams outside the playoff picture. Kerr has encouraged his team to capitalize on the same.
“We’ve got to take advantage of it for sure,” Kerr said of the schedule.
“The schedule was against us for the first couple months of the season.”
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