Warriors try to compensate for injured stars

OAKLAND – The joy spread across Stephen Curry’s face as he hoisted shots into the basket.

During a post-practice shooting workout, Curry swished countless 3-pointers around the perimeter. He then played hackey-sack with NBA Hall-of-famer and Warriors consultant Steve Nash before making more shots.

Those signs made the Warriors feel encouraged about Curry’s progress since missing the past six games with a strained left groin. But it must have frustrated the Warriors, too. Curry will sit out when the Warriors (12-5) host the Oklahoma City Thunder (106) on Wednesday at Oracle Arena. And Warriors coach Steve Kerr already ruled out Curry for the team’s home back-to-back slate against Portland (Friday) and Sacramento (Saturday) since Kerr wants Curry to practice first.

Meanwhile, the Warriors are also without All-star forward Draymond Green (sprained right toe) and reserve wing Alfonzo Mckinnie (sore left foot). In related news, the Warriors have lost three consecutive games and five of their last seven.

“You don’t make excuses because it doesn’t matter and nobody cares,” Kerr said. “But you take Steph Curry and Draymond out of the offense, you’re not as potent. It’s just a fact.”

It’s a fact, though, that the Warriors hope will stop disrupting their bottom line results anymore. After all, the Warriors went 9-2 during an 11-game stretch last season without Curry when he first injured his left ankle. Even when accounting for Green’s obvious value, the Warriors argue they should be able to manage the same way as they did during Curry’s initial injury last Kevin Durant pulls up for a shot against former Golden State Warrior Harrison Barnes during a game against the Dallas Mavericks at Oracle arena.

season. But how? “Get back to the basics. Take care of the ball, defend at a high level and box out,” Kerr said. “You don’t give your opponent extra possessions. All the little details maybe you can get away with when you’re at full strength, you can’t get away with it now.”

Especially when the Warriors are plagued with other circumstances.

Warriors forward Kevin Durant and Green are a week removed from a public spat that resulted in Green serving a one-game suspension. The Warriors have

fielded seven different lineups in the past seven games because of their injuries. And even if the Warriors enjoy having more youth on their roster, they benefitted from last season having Zaza Pachulia, Javale Mcgee and David West making fewer mistakes.

The Warriors’ two other All-stars have also struggled.

Durant has averaged 28 points per game on 39.6 percent shooting in the past five games. During that same stretch, Warriors guard Klay Thompson has averaged 22.4 points, but on a 39.7 percent clip. Kerr has

argued about the need to ensure better ball movement instead of relying on their two healthy All-stars.

“We have to find a good balance to that,” Warriors forward Andre Iguodala said. “It’s like a scale. You don’t want to tip too much to one side. But you don’t want to forget about them as well.”

After all, Durant averaged 28.8 points on 46.5 percent

shooting and Thompson averaged 21 points on a 44 percent mark during Curry’s initial 11-game absence last season. When Durant returned for the final eight games that overlapped with Curry’s left knee injury, Durant averaged 24.75 points while shooting 47.8 percent from the field. After missing eight games with a right thumb injury, Thompson averaged 22.7 points.