Fans hoping to watch the league’s stretchiest center matchup at Chase Center tonight will unfortunately be deprived the experience of 7-foot-2 Kristaps Porzingis battling San Antonio’s 7-5 Victor Wembanyama in the mid-post.
The Warriors ruled Porzingis (illness management) out of Wednesday’s game against San Antonio. He does not play both sides of back-to-backs, and the Warriors have apparently elected to have him play against the Cavaliers on Thursday.
Fellow centers Al Horford (calf) and Quinten Post (right foot) are also out for Wednesday’s game, which means that after 6-7 Draymond Green, a combination of two-way Malevy Leons and 10-day contracted Omer Yurtseven will have to guard arguably the league’s best player.
Joining Porzingis in the no back-to-back club is guard De’Anthony Melton, who is dealing with a left thumb strain. It is unclear if he will miss tomorrow’s game as well. The shorthanded Warriors could be missing even more perimeter talent, too.
Gui Santos (right pelvis contusion) and Gary Payton II (right knee) were both questionable, with Santos later being ruled out, and Steph Curry has been ruled out while he ramps up to a possible return from runner’s knee later this week.
During his pregame press conference, coach Steve Kerr said he hopes that Melton and Santos will be available on Thursday, and that Porzingis will certainly play.
The Warriors are 36-39 and the 10th seed in the conference. They are two games behind the ninth-seeded Trail Blazers, who also own a tiebreaker over Golden State.
