The Golden State Warriors have a growing concern amid their dominant preseason run. Tonight, the Bay Area hosted the Detroit Pistons without their superstar, Steph Curry. The 4x NBA Champ jammed his index fingers in their last outing, igniting the first setback of the Warriors’ season. And, to further worsen it, the team’s trusted sophomore guard, Brandin Podziemski, has rushed to the locker room after a head injury. Will Steve Kerr have to slow down proceedings to keep his roster healthy, heading into the regular season?
After winning three on the trot, the Warriors faced the struggling Pistons. The team went in without their core, Draymond Green and Steph Curry, and still managed to produce a dominant 111-93 win. However, amid this comfortable outing, Podz, who played the game as a starting PG, took a blow to his head off Trayce Jackson-Davis’ arm during an off-ball movement and fell on the floor. Following that, the rising star rushed to the locker room along with training staff, as per Danny Emerman, a Bay Area News Group reporter.
Currently, the team has listed Brandin Podziemski in the day-to-day category, citing a nose contusion. Notably, with a blockbuster game coming up against the Lakers on Tuesday, the rising star is Questionable to play the game!
On the other hand, the team had listed three players in the injury report: Draymond Green, Andrew Wiggins, and Steph Curry. Wiggs, who has yet to play a single game in the preseason, is expected to make his season debut directly on Tuesday. And Green, who didn’t play tonight’s game, doesn’t have a reason listed. Meanwhile, Steph, with a jammed index finger, took the day off to prevent the injury from aggravating. So, basically, the Warriors boss is currently playing with fire, amid the team’s dominant run in the preseason.
Brandin Podziemski heads into the tunnel with training staff after appearing to injure his head. Looked like he got some friendly fire from Trayce Jackson-Davis when trying to curl around him for a handoff.
Podziemski has 12 points, 4 assists and 4 rebounds tonight vs. pistons
— Danny Emerman (@DannyEmerman) October 14, 2024
The win against the Pistons is their biggest so far in the pre-season. Moving forward from their opening encounter against the Los Angeles Clippers and last week’s double-header against the Sacramento Kings, Steve Kerr’s let it fly from deep, as they made 18 of their 39 three-point attempts.
The Warriors are one of only two teams, along with the Boston Celtics, with a 4-0 record in pre-season. A win against an opponent like the Lakers will surely give a significant boost to the team ahead of the start of the new season. On the other hand, after defeats against the Minnesota Timberwolves and Phoenix Suns, the Los Angeles Lakers finally notched their first pre-season victory against the Bucks (107-102). However, it did not come easily for them.
The Lakers were trailing by eight points with 12 minutes left. While the defeat number 3 looked imminent, they dropped their highest-scoring fourth quarter of pre-season so far. While most of the attention has been on Bronny James, it was Dalton Knecht who came up with 13 points, a team-high eight rebounds, and four assists in his 34 minutes.
The two teams are going to meet in the regular season until boxing day. So, both will look to have the edge over the other before they meet in the regular season. Notably, if we look at the numbers, the Warriors have won their last three encounters against the Lakers. While the Warriors look to make it four, Podziemski is surely going to be an important component of the team. But there is a twist.
Will Brandin Podziemski join the action before it’s too late?
More than the team, Podz has a dying need to recover faster. The Warriors have a deep backcourt attack. From vets to youngsters, Kerr has a lot of options. He also has to find his starting lineup and rotation. So with De’Anthony Melton, Buddy Hield, Moses Moody, Gary Payton II, Pat Spencer, and Lindy Waters III fighting for their spot in the rotation, Podz has to run for his money. Generally, a nose contusion takes around 5 days to 2 weeks to recover. So, it looks like the sophomore guard may miss out on the Lakers game.
Nevertheless, it’s safe to say that Brandin Podziemski has already cemented a spot in the rotation with his impressive performance in the rookie season. The rising star not only shoots the long ball but has a unique tendency to read the game well. Steve Kerr rightly said, “He’s got a knack for being in the right place at the right time in terms of rebounding passing lanes, loose balls, all that stuff.” No wonder that he logged 26.6 minutes per game during his rookie campaign — the fifth-highest of any Golden State player during the 2023-24 NBA season.
Podziemski is averaging 10 points, 5.9 rebounds, and 3.9 assists per game in 49 appearances during his rookie season. An instance of his knowledge that Kerr mentioned is the player’s ability to draw offensive fouls from opponents. The rookie is leading all NBA players with 31 charges drawn during the 2023-24 season. However, as Kerr pointed out, he has some areas to take care of.
The Warriors coach revealed that the rookie’s ability to see the floor at an elite level becomes counterproductive at times. Because he stretches himself too far trying to make plays rather than sticking to his own work.
“He still has a lot of work ahead of him. I think he over-helps sometimes. He sees things as they’re unfolding, but sometimes, you know, you gotta stay in your gap, stay in your lane and, and he’ll, he’ll overdo it and we’re trying to teach him that,” Kerr said of him. Nevertheless, it is a good problem rather than the other way around. The youngster also led the league in terms of taking charges. So, is the hooper in the team for good, then? What do you think?