The Golden State Warriors have confirmed they'll be without superstar guard Stephen Curry for the start of their five-game road-trip against the Houston Rockets on Saturday.
Curry is making good progress from his ankle injury and could return on Monday against the Washington Wizards according to Anthony Slater of the Athletic, but it's not such good news for another Warrior guard.
While Curry will be re-evaluated on Sunday, De'Anthony Melton won't be re-evaluated for another week, meaning he'll miss at least the next three games after already missing the recent back-to-back against the New Orleans Pelicans due to a back injury.
The Warriors will once again look to their defense to beat the Rockets
With Curry, Melton and Andrew Wiggins on the sidelines, Golden State relied heavily on their defense to claim back-to-back wins over a Pelicans team that were restricted to just 104 and 89 points. They also used their defense to propel the offense after a slow start on Tuesday, having outscored New Orleans 32-14 in fast-break points across the two meetings.
The Warriors will regain Wiggins for Saturday's game, but Curry's absence will require the visitors to continue prioritizing their defense and getting out in transition to create the best possible looks on offense.
Houston is coming off a 108-102 win over the Dallas Mavericks, having kept the Luka Donic, Kyrie Irving and Klay Thompson-led offense to less than 46% shooting from the floor and 33.3% from three-point range.
Golden State could struggle if their kept into a half-court game, with Houston currently sixth in defensive rating on their way to a 3-2 record. The Warriors themselves are second in defensive rating, making for a potentially low-scoring game akin to the 104-89 victory over the Pelicans on Wednesday.
Golden State is currently third in transition points across the NBA, but could find it more difficult against a Houston team who concedes just the eighth most points in transition. The Warriors concede the least transition points in the league themselves right now, while the Rockets rank 23rd in transition points and only 27th in pace.
While they're not a big isolation team even with the 2x MVP, Curry's absence sees Golden State rank last in isolation points. The Warrior defense will likely be the driving force to what they hope will be their fifth victory from six games, with a particular focus needed on Jalen Green who's averaged nearly 28 points on over 43% three-point shooting to start the season.