As expected, the Golden State Warriors will be without De’Anthony Melton in Wednesday night’s matchup against the Memphis Grizzlies. While Melton will be sitting out the second half of the Dubs back-to-back, Al Horford (who missed Tuesday’s game) will be returning to the rotation. Draymond Green is questionable. Obviously the Warriors are already missing Steph Curry, Jimmy Butler, Kristaps Porzingis, and Seth Curry as well.
The Dubs will face a Grizzlies team that is among many NBA squads engaged
in an embarrassing tanking operation. Despite trading core pieces like Desmond Bane and Jaren Jackson Jr. in the last year, Memphis is still holding out Ja Morant, Zach Edey, Santi Aldama, Cedric Coward, Brandon Clarke, and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope will all be out (some with legitimate injuries to be fair). Former Warriors forward Kyle Anderson is also listed as questionable.
The Warriors hopes of escaping the Play-In Tournament have largely been dashed by Butler and Curry’s injuries, however, the collective tanking throughout the league has also lessened the pressure on Golden State from behind them in the standings. Nevertheless, the Dubs do have a fairly easy schedule over the final months of the season and could make a run at the 6th or 7th seed with a particularly strong stretch.
