The injury bug has bit the Golden State Warriors once again. D’Angelo Russell suffered an apparent hand injury on Friday night during the team’s 105-100 home loss to the Boston Celtics, one that limited the All-Star guard to 25 minutes of action.
Golden State is already pretty thin in the backcourt due to Steph Curry’s broken hand and the torn knee ligament that Klay Thompson suffered during the most recent NBA Finals. Now, the team’s backcourt will be even thinner for a few weeks, as the team announced that Russell’s injury is a thumb sprain that will keep him on the sideline. The team announced the news on its PR Twitter account, saying that Russell will be evaluated in two weeks.
D'Angelo Russell injury update: pic.twitter.com/sIMxIHsWpl
— Warriors PR (@WarriorsPR) November 16, 2019
As Bobby Marks of ESPN pointed out, the Warriors are now barely meeting the league requirement for healthy players on a roster.
Golden State is now down to 9 healthy players- 8 is the league requirement.
K. Bowman
G. Robinson III
D. Green
J. Poole
A. Burks
O. Spellman
M. Chriss
E. Paschall
W. Cauley-Stein— Bobby Marks (@BobbyMarks42) November 16, 2019
Russell has shouldered a ton of responsibility due to the team’s injury issues, averaging 24.3 points and 6.7 assists in 31.5 minutes per game. In his absence, it stands to reason that Draymond Green will be responsible for even more playmaking than usual, with rookie guard Ky Bowman and wing options like Alec Burks and Jordan Poole getting a little more run than anyone could have expected heading into the year.
