By Jordan Grim • November 06, 2025 • 03:02 AM (PDT)
By Jordan Grim • November 06, 2025 • 03:02 AM (PDT)
Head coach Steve Kerr ruled the point guard out for Wednesday’s game in Sacramento.
Coughing and sneezing throughout his postgame press conference, Steph Curry certainly didn’t look like he’d be ready to lace up his sneakers and play in less than 24 hours.
Following the Warriors’ 118-107 win over Phoenix at Chase Center on Tuesday, Steph Curry said he’d had a cold for the past few days and it was getting worse. Despite admitting the illness affected his play, Steph Curry didn’t rule himself out for the second leg of the team’s back-to-back game in Sacramento. As always, it would take a lot to keep him sidelined.
Head coach Steve Kerr immediately put a stop to the two-time MVP’s confidence. He issued an executive order.
“He’s really tired right now. I don’t care what the doctors say, we have to rest him. I’m making the call right now, he’s not playing tomorrow.”
The Warriors (5-3) will play without Steph Curry and, possibly, star wing Jimmy Butler. Butler played through lower back pain in the first half, then aggravated it and was ruled out at halftime after 14 minutes.
Whether Butler is available or not for this quick turnaround on I-80, Wednesday will mark the first time this year the Warriors will play without one of their three veteran stars. With all their back-to-back games, the Warriors typically want to be cautious with their stars, keeping the big picture of the 82-game season in mind when it comes to their health.
Steph Curry, Butler, and Draymond Green have played in all eight of the Warriors’ games so far – the first seven of which took place in five different cities over 12 days. That grueling schedule led to heavy legs in Milwaukee and Indiana, where Golden State dropped two winnable games.
“During the road trip, it was clear all three players were worn down,” Kerr noted. “The early-season schedule has been unusually tough, and I pointed that out. None of them had missed a game, and I think they just kind of hit a wall.”
Following the loss to the Pacers, Steph Curry described the Midwest swing as a kind of ‘mirror game.’ The Warriors took that to heart and responded accordingly.
Once they were back in San Francisco, the veteran core sat down with Kerr, general manager Mike Dunleavy, and Rick Celebrini, who oversees sports medicine and performance. They convened a meeting to discuss navigating the difficult parts of the schedule and evaluating internal health data.
According to Kerr, some of the takeaways are:
The schedule isn’t black and white. For example, Kerr cited the October 24 Portland game as one he wished he could have back. The night before, the Warriors had beaten Denver in a thrilling overtime game. The veteran players pushed to play the second night of a back-to-back, feeling energized at the start of the season.
Kerr listened to them, but the stars didn’t have the energy in Portland. A long, athletic Blazers team ran them off the court.
Wednesday’s Kings game presented an easy decision to rest Curry, as evidenced by Kerr’s postgame comments. Curry acknowledged that his energy was completely drained in the second half of the matchup against Phoenix. He also said he’d been feeling symptoms for the past few days, following the Milwaukee and Indiana games in which he shot a combined 16-for-42 (38.1%) from the field.
It’s clear that a night of rest – and perhaps some NyQuil – will only benefit Curry. If Golden State has to play without both Curry and Butler at the Golden 1 Center, it will have to give Jonathan Kuminga more opportunities on offense. He was unusually quiet in the second half against Phoenix, when the Warriors’ lead dwindled from over 20 points to single digits. It would behoove Golden State to run more offense through Kuminga, who took a season-low seven field goal attempts despite Butler’s absence.
Brandin Podziemski will also get more on-ball reps. Pat Spencer played 11 good minutes against Phoenix and will get another chance, as will Will Richard and Gary Payton II — who were DNP-CDs on Tuesday night.
“We have a big challenge ahead of us to win a game with fewer players,” Kerr said. “I’m excited for all the guys who are going to play tomorrow.”
The Warriors’ blowout loss against Sacramento has only amplified the focus on their two road losses. Both the Bucks and Pacers were shorthanded, and the Western Conference standings always seem to come down to a game or two. Losing both games despite being at full strength has only increased the pressure on the team to find ways to win even when members of the Big Three are unavailable.
Last season, the Warriors went 7-5 in games without Curry. Golden State would likely welcome a similar result this season, but any improvement would be a bonus.
“We’re doing this for the first time this year, but I think we’ll be alright,” said Moses Moody, who scored 24 points off the bench against the Suns.
The Warriors’ blowout loss against Sacramento has only amplified the focus on their two road losses. Both the Bucks and Pacers were shorthanded, and the Western Conference standings always seem to come down to a game or two. Losing both games despite being at full strength has only increased the pressure on the team to find ways to win even when members of the Big Three are unavailable.
Last season, the Warriors went 7-5 in games without Curry. Golden State would likely welcome a similar result this season, but any improvement would be a bonus.
“We’re doing this for the first time this year, but I think we’ll be alright,” said Moses Moody, who scored 24 points off the bench against the Suns.
“We play like this a lot in practice, in the preseason, this group against that group. We’re kind of used to playing with each other. I think we have all the pieces we need.”