With Chris Paul ruled out for Game 7 of the Western Conference Finals, the Golden State Warriors are seen as significant favorites to advance to the NBA Finals, even without the benefit of home-court advantage. Steve Kerr and the Warriors, however, have dealt with a high-profile injury in their own regard as Andre Iguodala missed his fourth consecutive game on Monday evening.
That news became public well in advance of tip-off but, in his pre-game media availability, Kerr painted a potentially ominous picture of Iguodala’s status.
In short, he has “no idea” when the veteran swingman will return to game action.
Steve Kerr on how long Andre Iguodala will be out: "No idea. It's been day to day since Game 3. It's just not an easy injury to predict in terms of recovery."
— Reid Forgrave (@ReidForgrave) May 28, 2018
Of course, Kerr does note that Iguodala has been “day to day” for the duration of his absence and he was preliminarily listed as questionable even for Game 7. Still, this isn’t a comforting public sentiment for fans of the Warriors, as Golden State struggled mightily for a large portion of his absence.
It has to be noted that the Warriors can absolutely win the NBA title without Iguodala, simply because they have four of the top 20 players in the league on a nightly basis. In the same breath, Iguodala is clearly Golden State’s best option as a fifth wheel and, without him, Kerr is left with options that aren’t quite as solid.
Should the Warriors advance with a win in Game 7 against Houston, the team will have a two-day break before opening the NBA Finals against the Cleveland Cavaliers on Thursday in Oakland. However, it is unclear as to whether the defending champs would have Iguodala available in that scenario and, if nothing else, that brings more uncertainty to the table on a number of fronts.
