In what will be the Golden State Warriors’ opening game of the NBA Cup against the Denver Nuggets, they will find themselves with a monumental mountain to climb.
Per ESPN’s Anthony Slater, Warriors superstar
Steph Curry will not be available against the Nuggets due to an illness that “worsened” yesterday morning. Curry was visibly struggling with colds and coughs after their win against the Phoenix Suns last Tuesday and was ruled out in yesterday’s loss to the Sacramento Kings.
Jimmy Butler, who was also out against the Kings due to a lower back strain, is questionable against the Nuggets, while Draymond Green is probable.
It is quite obvious how huge Curry being out against the Nuggets is. It took Curry scoring 42 points in their first contest for the Warriors to win in overtime, despite Aaron Gordon’s career-high 50 points on a scorching 10-of-11 clip on threes; without him, the Warriors will find it extremely difficult to overcome Nikola Jokić, Jamal Murray, Gordon, and co. The difficulty level further increases if Butler also has to miss tomorrow’s game, which will be in Denver — a difficult place to play in for the Nuggets’ opponents due to the high altitude.
Tomorrow will also mark the Warriors’ 10th game in 18 nights, which has already included three sets of back-to-backs, with two more sets coming up in the following two weeks. The schedule hasn’t been kind to a team that is considered the second-oldest in the league (behind the Los Angeles Clippers) by average age.
