The Golden State Warriors face the Los Angeles Clippers on Wednesday night in the Play-In. While it would be nice to see the Dubs get the victory, there's really only one way the team can lose the game and it has nothing to do with the final score.
The Warriors are banged up enough as it is, but the only way the Warriors walk out of the Intuit Dome as losers is if one of their key players gets injured.
Warriors must avoid injuries at all costs against Clippers
It will be amazing to see Stephen Curry on the court in a big game because we simply don't know how many more times we will get to see it in his career. If he can put on a show and give the Warriors a chance to win that would at least take a little bit of the sting from what has been a disappointing, injury-riddled season for Golden State.
But speaking on KNBR on Tuesday, Marcus Thompson II of The Athletic makes a great point about how the Warriors should be careful with their star.
"Why are you killing him again? So you can go get gentlemen swept by Oklahoma City?"
It's a point that the Warriors would be smart to listen to. They should not overextend Curry no matter what against the Clippers, or in the next Play-In game should they advance. He missed over two months with a knee injury and is 38-years-old, meaning they cannot afford to push him beyond his limits.
Thankfully, it sounds like the Warriors are capping Curry's minutes at around 34 for the game against Los Angeles which seems wise. If he starts to drift too close to 40 then there will be some natural cause for concern.
As Thompson notes, it's not like this Warriors team without Jimmy Butler is really capable of making a deep playoff run. They would need so many things to go right to get past the Oklahoma City Thunder in the first round, and firstly need plenty to go right in the Play-In just to even get that far.
Maybe things would be different in another year if the No. 1 seed was not all that strong, or if Golden State had a ton of momentum and was playing well. The reality is that the Warriors basically limped, both figuratively and literally, to where they are right now. As long as the team stays healthy and no one goes down with a huge injury that impacts next season, Wednesday's game will have been a success.
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