The Golden State Warriors turned their fortunes around against the Nikola Jokic-led Denver Nuggets, but without their two veterans. Barely hours before the 128-117 home win, head coach Steve Kerr had to deal with an unexpected illness issue with Kristaps Porzingis, while things went from bad to worse, with Draymond Green, who was a late scratch just before the tip-off. Kerr was quite straightforward when he addressed the media after the game.

“I hope so,” Kerr said of Green’s availability for the next game. “He was going to play, and he went out to warm up, and he had his lower back tightened up. So, we obviously scratched him at that point. With the back-to-back coming up, we’ll see. I don’t have an update at this point, but hopefully he’ll be all right.”

While the coach remained hopeful about his 14-year veteran’s return, the news (or lack thereof) around Porzingis was rather deflating. When the reporters asked for any further clarity on the recently traded Dubs star, whose status went from “questionable” to “out” before the game, Kerr’s answer was straight “No.”

Kerr did clarify before the game that the newly traded star couldn’t leave his hotel room, but did not state the clear reason for it.

“I haven’t talked to him, but just got a text this morning that he was sick and at the hotel, and he’s not even going to come over here,” Kerr told reporters.

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The Latvian star missing games due to injury and illness is not new. Earlier this 2025-26, he missed 14 games with a similar condition.

Tonight would have been Porzingis’ second outing for the Warriors after he looked decent in his debut against his former team, the Boston Celtics. He recorded 12 points and was on a minutes restriction (17). Worryingly, Kerr remained noncommittal about the veteran center playing in their next two games. The Warriors will be on the road to face the New Orleans Pelicans and the Memphis Grizzlies in a back-to-back set on Tuesday and Wednesday, respectively.

Steve Kerr’s plan for Draymond Green will change after the injury setback

Before the All-Star break, Green closed the mid-season with 17 points, 12 rebounds, and 8 assists, shooting 6 of 14 from the field. But after the break against the Celtics, the scoring production was zero. 0 points, 0 of 7 from the field, also missing all five attempts from beyond the arc. In fact, he did not feature at all in the fourth quarter. Regardless of his performance, the fourth-quarter absence was a strategy, according to Steve Kerr.

“When Steph is healthy, we’re going to play pretty much all of Draymond’s minutes with Steph, just to make sure we are getting the most out of him offensively,” Kerr told Mark Willard from 95.7 FM The Game. “We might close with Al, Kristaps, maybe both of them, and Draymond has accepted that. He said, ‘I get it. If you don’t close with me, I’ll be all right. Like that’s where our team is, that’s where I am. I’m going to stay ready,’ and that’s exactly what he’s done.”

Green’s fourth-quarter absence against the Celtics was not the only instance this season.

In February, Kerr benched Green twice. Against the Suns, the veteran was benched for the final seven minutes of a 101-97 win. It was the same against the Grizzlies, where he did not play the final nine minutes of a narrow 114-113 win. All this was to save his minutes eventually when Stephen Curry returns after his runner’s knee injury.

But an illness issue with Porzingis will unfortunately force Kerr’s hand to feature Green even in the final minutes.