The Houston Rockets‘ loss to the Miami Heat on Friday sealed the Golden State Warriors‘ place in the 2024 play-in tournament. The Rockets trail the 10th-placed Warriors by four games. They have only four matchups left in their regular season schedule and the Warriors hold the tiebreaker after beating them thrice this season, meaning Houston cannot usurp Golden State in the standings anymore. With their place in the play-in tournament secured, the Warriors can look upwards and try to catch the Los Angeles Lakers and the Sacramento Kings, who are 2.5 and two games ahead respectively. However, they would need their centerpiece Stephen Curry to have a shot at catching the Lakers.
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Golden State has five games left in their schedule, of which two are against the Utah Jazz. The first of their two meetings is on Sunday night at Chase Center. But the contest won’t feature Warriors superstar Stephen Curry, who is being rested by the Dubs. Curry has already played 71 games and has pretty much carried the majority of the load for his team. Therefore, resting him before a hectic play-in schedule is understandable.
Golden State is resting the veteran guard before their critical game against the Lakers on Tuesday. Curry missed three straight games with knee soreness last month but has featured in the Warriors’ last 11 outings. The 36-year-old superstar is getting a well-deserved break ahead of the business end of the regular season.
Warriors’ record without Stephen Curry this season
Stephen Curry’s lengthy injury history is well-documented and the Warriors expect their superstar guard to be sidelined for several games during the regular season. However, that hasn’t been the case this year. Curry has missed only six games of the Warriors’ 77 games this season. He last played over 70 regular season games in the 2016-17 campaign.
The Warriors have an abysmal 1-5 record without Curry. Their only win came against the San Antonio Spurs, who are rooted to the bottom of the Western Conference standings and have the third-worst record in the league. Their horrendous record without Curry indicates their over-reliance on their 36-year-old guard. The Warriors would’ve preferred Curry to have a lighter schedule, but their record without him showcases why he has played in 92% of their games this season.
The Warriors’ coaching staff is trusting their players to beat the 29-48 Jazz at home without their superstar guard. However, if they lose, they might as well give all their starters a rest in their remaining four games and look forward to their road trip in the first round of the play-in tournament.
