Steph Curry Game Status Revealed for Lakers vs. Warriors

Stephen Curry (knee injury management) has been ruled out for Thursday's game between the Los Angeles Lakers and Golden State Warriors at Chase Center.

Steve Kerr had already revealed that Curry would sit out one of Golden State's two games on Thursday and Friday. This means that Curry will likely suit up against the Sacramento Kings on Friday.

If one of the goals of Curry's ramp up is to get playing time with Kristaps Porzingis, then perhaps that played a role in this decision, as Porzingis has been ruled out with an illness. It's not clear if Porzingis will be available for Friday's game.

The rest of the Warriors' injury report features Al Horford (calf), Quinten Post (foot) and Will Richard (back) as out, Gui Santos (pelvis) as questionable and LJ Cryer (illness) and Charles Bassey (ankle) as probable.

For the Lakers, Luka Doncic (hamstring) and Austin Reaves (oblique) are out, but LeBron James is set to return after missing Tuesday's game against the Oklahoma City Thunder with a foot injury.

Jaxson Hayes (foot) has been ruled out, while Marcus Smart (ankle) is questionable.

Western Conference Play-In Tournament Update

The Phoenix Suns (44-36) clinched seventh place in the Western Conference on Wednesday. The Warriors (37-42) were already stuck in 10th.

What hasn't been decided is who will finish eighth and who will finish ninth between the Los Angeles Clippers (41-39) and Portland Trail Blazers (40-40).

The Clipprs and Blazers play each other on Friday. If the Clippers win, they'll clinch eighth place. If the Blazers win, they'll tie the Clippers in the standings and take the tiebreaker, giving them the inside track to getting eighth.

The Blazers play the Kings on Sunday, and the Clippers play the Warriors.

I argued here that the Warriors would like to avoid playing the Clippers in the play-in tournament. For that to happen, they a) need the Clippers to finish eighth and b) have them beat the Suns in the No. 7 vs. No. 8 game on Tuesday.

If both those things happened, the Warriors could make the playoffs with road wins over the Blazers on Wednesday and the Suns on April 17.