Steve Kerr Praises Warriors Forward for Playing Hurt After 9 Ruled Out vs. Spurs

The Golden State Warriors ruled out nine players for Wednesday's game against the San Antonio Spurs, and it turns out one of the players who played has been playing through an injury.

Steve Kerr revealed after the Warriors' 127-113 loss to the Spurs that Malevy Leons injured his right wrist at least a week ago, but that didn't stop him from playing 29 minutes Wednesday.

What drew attention to his injury is that the right-handed forward took a free-throw attempt left-handed, which rimmed out.

"He's been doing this the last few games," Kerr said, likely referring to Leons appearing for about seven minutes combined against the Wizards on Friday and the Nuggets on Sunday. "... We had a game the other night ... designed a play, and he said, 'Coach, can we run it on the other side of the floor so I can make the pass with my left hand?'"

Kerr continued: "He's smart, plays with unbelievable energy, and obviously plays through the injury."

Warriors' Two-Ways, Yurtseven Perform Admirably

The Warriors had just nine players available, and with this being the front leg of a back-to-back, they didn't want to overtax the players who they expect to play big minutes for Thursday's game against the Cavaliers. So once the game got out of hand in the second half, Kerr went away from Draymond Green and Brandin Podziemski, which opened up minutes for Leons, Nate Williams, LJ Cryer and Omer Yurtseven.

Leons finished with five points, five assists, four rebounds, two steals and two turnovers. He's on a two-year, two-way contract.

Cryer matched a career high with 17 points in 23 minutes. He's also on a two-way, two-year contract.

Williams played 47 minutes, the highest total for any Warrior in a non-overtime game since 2014, and had 18 points. His two-way contract will expire at the end of the regular season, making him the most likely of the two-ways to see his contract converted to a standard one before the playoffs.

Omer Yurtseven, on his second 10-day contract with Golden State, had 17 points in 29 minutes.