Steve Kerr spoke of the fact De'Anthony Melton is playing through injury following last week's loss to the Denver Nuggets. While admirable, it's becoming a bigger problem for the Golden State Warriors and proved costly against the Cleveland Cavaliers at Chase Center on Thursday night.
The Warriors were valiant again and held a four-point lead after a surging run in the fourth-quarter, but ultimately fell to a 118-111 loss against a more talented team that sits a clear fourth in the Eastern Conference.
De'Anthony Melton struggled again in Warriors loss to Cavaliers
Melton had gone scoreless in two of his last three games heading into Thursday's game, having shot just 5-of-23 from the floor during that period. After sitting on the first night of a back-to-back against the San Antonio Spurs on Wednesday, the 27-year-old struggled again in finishing with only five points on 2-of-12 shooting from the floor, including 1-of-5 from 3-point range.
Melton did have six rebounds, three assists and three steals in nearly 26 minutes, but he was a major culprit in Golden State shooting less than 44% from the floor and only 27.3% from beyond the arc in the seven-point loss.
As much as the Warriors desperately need players on the floor amid an ongoing injury crisis in recent months, it might be more beneficial to give Melton multiple games off to see if that can change his recent form.
There were still positives for Golden State from yet another loss, including from a pair of young players in Gui Santos and Brandin Podziemski. Their box score numbers were eerily similar, having each recored 25 points, four rebounds, four assists and two steals, while Podziemski shot 9-of-15 from the floor as opposed to Santos' 9-of-14 shooting.
Santos looked to be consistently struggling with a groin injury, but unlike Melton he successfully played through it and torched the Cavaliers at the rim in the second-half, along with knocking down a pair of threes.
Kristaps Porzingis also returned after resting on Wednesday, finishing with 16 points and seven rebounds despite missing all five of his 3-point attempts. Draymond Green produced some vintage moments, recording eight points, nine rebounds, nine assists and three blocks in over 35 minutes.
Despite another loss, the Warriors can at least look forward to the expected return of superstar guard Stephen Curry against the visiting Houston Rockets on Sunday, having missed 27-straight games due to a knee injury.