Isaiah J. Downing-USA TODAY Sports
Michael Malone Reacts to Warriors Resting Curry, Thompson, and Wiggins
The Golden State Warriors are amidst a bad stretch of basketball, but they decided it was best to prioritize rest for their All-Stars ahead of the team's trip to Denver on Monday night. Following a bad loss to the Los Angeles Lakers on Friday, the Warriors flew straight up to Denver to take on the Nuggets for a makeup game Monday night. With the team set to face the LA Clippers in Golden State on Tuesday night, they opted to send Steph Curry, Klay Thompson, and Andrew Wiggins back home rather than having them make the trip to Denver.
In addition to the planned absences of Curry, Wiggins, and Thompson, Otto Porter Jr. was also ruled out shortly before game time. He and Juan Toscano-Anderson were listed as questionable, but JTA is now expected to play. This leaves the Warriors with nine available players, as Gary Payton II, Draymond Green, James Wiseman, and Andre Iguodala were already out with injuries. With the Denver Nuggets playing well, this is a game they certainly should win; however, head coach Mike Malone is not looking at it that way.
"It's scary as hell," Malone said. "The last time that they rested a lot of their guys, they went down to San Antonio and they hit 20 threes. Jordan Poole had 33 points... they had a huge comeback in the 4th quarter to get that win." While the Nuggets are the clear favorites on paper, especially considering the way both teams have been playing lately, coach Malone is not going to overlook this contest.
