PORTLAND, Ore. — When the Warriors arrived here to embark on the stretch run of the regular season, there was one player not on the team charter: Draymond Green, whose absence from a disc injury in his lower back reached 22 games Thursday night.
That Green hasn’t progressed to the point of traveling with the team on its first trip after the All-Star break does not bode well for an expedited return to the court, which the team has said will come “at some point” in the final stretch of the season but offered no more specifics. His missing presence in Portland served as a reminder of the Warriors’ biggest hurdle in their final 23 games, facing the prospect of playing many of them without their point forward and most important defensive asset.
As Green’s absence extends, the Warriors are left with a couple of quandaries: their standing in the Western Conference — a 1 1/2 game lead on Memphis for the No. 2 seed entering Thursday — only gets shakier the longer Green is out, and preparing for the playoffs without the lineups they hope to log critical minutes together isn’t an easy task, either.
Playoff positioning
It’s pretty simple: Green is a crucial cog and the Warriors aren’t the same without him.
That heightens the challenge of maintaining their lead over Memphis and makes it near impossible to catch Phoenix, even if the Suns will also be without a key member of their team after Chris Paul broke his thumb. Making matters more difficult: the Warriors’ remaining schedule is the seventh-toughest in the NBA, while the Grizzlies’ is the third-easiest.
“That requires everybody to step up until Draymond gets back,” Steph Curry said earlier this week.
Claiming the No. 2 seed would guarantee homecourt advantage through the conference semifinals and allow the Warriors to face a play-in team in the first round, rather than the No. 6 seed. A series against the Timberwolves, Clippers or Lakers is far more manageable than a first-round matchup with the Nuggets or Mavericks, potentially even more important if Green is working his way back to full strength.
On-court chemistry
During games’ most critical junctures, the lineup Warriors coach Steve Kerr wants to roll out certainly includes the quartet of Curry, Klay Thompson, Andrew Wiggins and Green. One problem: that crew hasn’t played together — ever.
The night Thompson returned from his two-year injury absence, Green played a ceremonial seven seconds, checked out of the game and hasn’t returned since. There’s lots of history between Green, Curry and Thompson, but that trio hasn’t shared the court since the 2019 Finals. Wiggins, the newcomer, has played 99 games with Green and 16 with Thompson, but none with the both of them.
Curry-Wiggins-Green? That trio showed what it can do with a 29-9 record prior to Jan. 9. Curry-Thompson-Wiggins? 13-8 in their first 21 games together. But all four? Not a single game.
Kerr and Curry were both confident re-integrating Green wouldn’t be an issue, no matter when he returns.
“That transition will be pretty smooth because we know what he’s capable of doing,” Curry said.
Kerr said he has thought “a lot” about how he will use Green come time for the playoffs but without his full complement of players has stopped short of formulating any solid plans.
“The fact that Draymond and Klay have played together for so many years, I don’t think they need much time together to really click,” Kerr said. “But if a guy is coming back from injury before the playoffs, it sure is nice to get a handful of games under that player’s belt, as a group as well. So we’re really hoping that everything works out health wise for our team and we have everybody available, but we’ll see.”
So, when can the Warriors hope to get Green back in the fold?
When pressed on the Turner Sports All-Star broadcast, Green said he hoped to be back in “three to four weeks.” However, that was the same timeline he gave when he last met with reporters two weeks prior, after being named to the All-Star Game.
If he is back four weeks from the date of the All-Star Game, that pegs his return on March 20, the night the Warriors host San Antonio in their final home game before a five-game road trip that concludes with monumental showdown in Memphis. With 22 games to play after Thursday night, that would split the difference and give Green 11 games to prepare for the playoffs.
