The Golden State Warriors are preparing to enter a stretch of games without their best player on the court. Klay Thompson is expected to be out again after spraining his left hand. The Warriors ruled their newly extended star as day-to-day, but it appears he will be out once again as the team takes on the San Antonio Spurs who are expected to sit some of their veterans coming off back-to-back games.
Thompson missed the game on Sunday as the Warriors fell to the Phoenix Suns. He currently ranks seventh in the league averaging 23.8 points per game. The Warriors are not concerned about Thompson being out any extended period of time, but they certainly miss his production on the court when he is injured.
Stephen Curry is doing his job maintaining the offense in wake of Thompson's injury as he leads the NBA with 27.7 points per game while committing 4.8 turnovers as well. His 10 turnovers on Sunday contributed to the team's loss while Golden State has been averaging 18.8 turnovers against the Spurs in the two team's past four meetups. The Warriors do not have strong history against the Western Conference rivals, dropping 21 of 23 games in the regular season.
The Spurs are in the middle of a four-game road trip having beaten the Los Angeles Clippers on Monday. Head coach Gregg Popovich is expected to sit a number of his stars for portions of the game, something he normally does in the second of back-to-back games. Against the Clippers, Kawhi Leonard was the big start with 26 points and 10 rebounds. He matched his highest point total of the season in that game despite still having vision issues that kept him out at the start of the season. Last week, Tim Duncan and Manu Ginobili stat the second of back-to-back games and could do the same this week as well, but injuries to Tiago Splitter and Marco Belinelli might change that plan.
