The Golden State Warriors are slowly getting healthy again, with Steph Curry rejoining the team on Saturday night, Draymond Green expected back fairly soon, and DeMarcus Cousins targeting sometime after Christmas for his debut as a Warrior.
That’s the good news for the two-time defending champs, because without their stars all in the lineup together they’ve looked pretty uneven. Unfortunately, on Saturday in a loss to the Pistons in Detroit, the Warriors suffered another blow to their depth, this time in the frontcourt where they’re already a bit light.
Center Damian Jones, who has been starting in place of Draymond Green, left after 20 minutes of play and on Sunday the team announced the young big man would be out for extended time after tearing his left pectoral muscle.
Damian Jones injury update: pic.twitter.com/a59IRdQr9r
— Warriors PR (@WarriorsPR) December 2, 2018
Warriors center Damian Jones will undergo surgery to repair his torn left pectoral this week, league source tells ESPN. Jones will meet with a specialist in Chicago prior, and they'll have better idea after procedure if he can return late in playoffs — or if he's out for season.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) December 2, 2018
As noted by ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, it’s possible this could be a season-ending injury for Jones, depending on the severity of the tear. While on the Hawks, Al Horford tore his pectoral muscle twice (once on the right side and once on the left), most recently in 2013 when he suffered a complete tear at the end of December and missed the remainder of the season including the playoffs.
We’ll have to wait for official word on a timetable for Jones, but in the immediate interim, one would expect Jordan Bell and Kevon Looney to see their minutes increase significantly, until Green and Cousins are available.
