SAN FRANCISCO — The freefalling Golden State Warriors lost four more players to injury Friday night and also lost a fourth consecutive game, 127-117 to the Minnesota Timberwolves, to continue their tumble down the Western Conference standings.
Veteran forward Draymond Green was scratched 30 minutes before tipoff because of lower back soreness. Veteran center Al Horford left after five minutes with right calf tightness. Veteran guard Seth Curry limped to the locker room in the second quarter with left adductor soreness. And second-year center Quinten Post sprained his left ankle.
“We’re going through it,” Warriors coach Steve Kerr said. “We’re about as beaten up as any team I can ever remember.”
The Warriors have been missing their two best players for more than a month. Jimmy Butler tore an ACL in early January and is out for the season. Stephen Curry has been sidelined since Jan. 30 because of a persistent right knee issue.
Stephen Curry missed his 16th consecutive game Friday night, and the Warriors have gone 5-11 in that stretch to fall to 32-34, two games behind the LA Clippers (winners of four straight) for the eighth seed in the Western Conference. They are 8½ games out of the sixth seed.
Green’s back issue doesn’t appear to be serious. He was spotted in the locker room after Friday’s game and appeared to be moving around fine. There was no official word on the severity of the injuries to Post’s ankle or Seth Curry’s adductor. Kerr called Horford’s calf injury a “strain” and indicated an expectation that he would miss time.
“With a calf, we’re not going to rush him back,” Kerr said.
This latest wave of injuries comes at an inopportune time for the Warriors. They begin a six-game road trip Sunday night in New York against the 43-25 Knicks and will also make stops in Boston, Detroit and Atlanta, putting them at serious risk of falling below the Portland Trail Blazers (32-35) into the 10th seed.
Recently acquired center Kristaps Porzingis was a minor bright spot for the Warriors. In his fourth game with the franchise, he upped his workload to 22 minutes and scored 20 points, saying afterward he is making progress with his recent health issues.
But the Warriors were severely outmanned without half of their rotation, falling down by 25 points and never getting closer than nine during a faint second-half comeback.
Timberwolves star Anthony Edwards popped up as questionable earlier in the day with right knee soreness and admitted there was some doubt he would play. But he received the green light an hour before tipoff and proceeded to score 42 points, letting Stephen Curry know about it in front of the Warriors bench after one corner 3.
“That’s my boy,” Edwards said. “Love Steph. Love everything about him. To me, greatest point guard. Love to play against him. If he’s not playing, talk a little trash to him on the side.”
Edwards grabbed at his right knee toward the end of the game but appeared fine postgame, getting in a workout outside the visiting locker room while wearing a sleeve on his right leg.
“I’m good,” Edwards said.
