Thompson sits out with a knee injury
Warriors star felt ‘tweak’ in same knee he had surgery on
SAN FRANCISCO >> Hours before tipoff Sunday, Warriors coach Steve Kerr learned that Klay Thompson wouldn’t be available against the Utah Jazz, raising concern over his recovery from two leg injuries and leaving Golden State shorthanded again against one of its top foes in the Western Conference.
Thompson felt a “tweak” in the left knee he had surgically repaired approximately 18 months ago, Kerr said, prompting Dr. Rick Celebrini to deliver the news that Thompson would need to be a late scratch Sunday night.
Despite Thompson, Draymond Green (lower back) and Andre Iguodala (left hip) watching from the bench in street clothes, the undermanned Warriors dispatched the Jazz, 94-92, for the second time in a month’s span.
If either player isn’t ready by the time they meet for a third time — in Salt Lake City about 2 1/2 weeks from now — the Warriors have cause for concern.
For now, the Warriors downplayed the situation – Kerr said it was a matter of caution and “not too concerning,” but the severity of the setback remains unknown, coming after two consecutive days off for the shooting guard who is making his way back from tears to his anterior cruciate ligament and Achilles tendon that caused him to miss the last two seasons.
Thompson, who underwent surgery on the left knee in July 2019, is averaging 14.7 points in 21.4 minutes since he returned six games ago. He saw his most time yet Thursday in his last outing but didn’t make any of his seven 3-point attempts in just over 23 minutes.
Thompson sat the next night as part of the Warriors’ plan to hold him out of back-to-back games, and Golden State was off Saturday.
Thompson arrived at Chase Center Sunday morning planning to play and participated in walk-throughs. But shortly after that, Celebrini informed Kerr that Thompson shouldn’t play that night.
“I didn’t realize that anything was wrong,” Kerr said. “Rick said that it would be wise to hold him out.”
With the late scratch, the Warriors used an array of supporting players to help Stephen Curry battle against the Jazz, who were playing without leading scorer Donovan Mitchell.