golden state warriors injury list: add andrew bogut pelvic contusion to david lee hamstring (Photo: Kelley L Cox / USA Today)
The Golden State Warriors entered their five-day break between games a little banged up. After Friday night’s victory over the Memphis Grizzlies, in which Marc Gasol knee’d Andrew Bogut in the groin, they’re even more banged up.
David Lee suffered a hamstring strain in last Saturday’s game against the San Antonio Spurs, Stephen Curry has been nursing a right quad injury, although he told LetsGoWarriors.com last Tuesday that it was all but gone, Andre Iguodala has been dealing with a right “jumper’s knee” or knee tendinitis, prior to the pelvic contusion Bogut had a tweaked ankle, and Festus Ezeli is still rehabbing from right knee surgery.
This time off helped heal some of the wounds that many Warriors’ players were dealing with, and it also allowed us to get an update on each nagging injury.
Let’s start off with Lee. LetsGoWarriors at practice yesterday and the Warriors informed us of the following:
Mark Jackson said David Lee (hamstring) hasn't done any live running yet, & he'll be smart despite the power forward's desire to play vs NY.
— Rusty Simmons (@Rusty_SFChron) March 29, 2014
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At Tuesday’s practice, Lee discussed his injury status and the benefits of this break.
“Everybody got to get away from the game for a couple days and get rested up,” Lee said. “As you know, I’m battling a little hamstring thing, so hopefully I’ll be ready for Friday, making progress everyday. But without that, I’d be having to miss games right now.
“Once again, just like the All-Star break, this break has come at a perfect time for our team. We’ve been playing really good basketball and just trying to come out of this and be sharp for Friday. I’m sure Coach will have us doing some stronger practices as we get closer to get our wind back.”
At Wednesday’s practice, Curry discussed his quad injury with us.
“It’s pretty much gone at this point,” Curry said. “The rest from this week helped to get that last little bit of soreness. I still got to do a little bit here and there to get ready for games, but at this point in the season everyone’s got nicks and bruises and bangs.
“It’s not really on my mind much when I’m playing anymore, which is definitely an improvement from weeks past.”
Iguodala discussed the five days off and provided an update on his knee tendinitis at Tuesday’s practice.
“Well I think it’d be helpful for anybody,” Iguodala said about the break. “It’s not common you get a stretch like this where you go and you get four or five days off right in the middle of the schedule. It’s really just important to just to be cautious but also be effective with trying to get back as soon as possible.”
When asked if he would play on Friday against the Grizzlies, he said, “Yeah, that’s the plan. I got a really good workout yesterday with Coach Myers and then got some good reps up today, really just taking care of minor things in the weight room for the last five days, small tedious muscles that you forget about and get those back working and take some stress off the area.”
Iguodala started the game and played 28 minutes. By contrast, Draymond Green and Jermaine O’Neal came off the bench and played 33 and 32 minutes, respectively.
Earlier today, Sam Amick of USA Today had this report on Bogut’s latest injury bug:
The Golden State Warriors will have to survive the most pivotal stretch of their season without center Andrew Bogut, as a person with knowledge of his situation said he’s expected to miss seven to 10 days with a soft tissue contusion in the groin area.
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The person spoke on the condition of anonymity because the results of Bogut’s MRI taken Saturday had not been announced publicly.
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The Warriors signed veteran big man Hilton Armstrong, who was playing with their NBA Development League team in Santa Cruz, to a 10-day deal to help fortify their frontcourt with Bogut out.
Ezeli’s injury is more serious than these other injuries, and his recovery process has been longer. There is no specific timetable yet for his return.
Nothing official. Been reported he tells fans Round1, but even he wouldn't reall know. RT @ryan_viera: what's timeline for Festus' return?
— LetsGoWarriors (@LetsGoWarriors) March 27, 2014
Ezeli has been on track. Everyone demanded a timeline back in Sep, so they said Mar. RT @yousinthehous: @ryan_viera set back or something?
— LetsGoWarriors (@LetsGoWarriors) March 27, 2014
The good news is that Ezeli has slowly been increasing the intensity of his workouts and has started running in practice. It’s been a long road to recovery for Ezeli, but it’s a good sign to see him doing more on-court activities.
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