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When D’Angelo Russell was taken back to the Chase Center locker room Friday night, it almost seemed like a fuzzy dream—a nightmare for Warriors fans.
The bad dream turned to reality when the Warriors announced the swingman would miss the next two weeks with a right thumb sprain.
Count that: Now, seven of Golden State’s 16 man roster are dealing with injuries, but the severity of the former Brooklyn All-Star’s sprained thumb came as a sigh of relief for Coach Steve Kerr.
“I was concerned it was worse,” he told reporters in New Orleans Saturday night. “A couple of weeks we can handle, if this had been something more severe we would’ve been in trouble.”
Steve Kerr on the D’Angelo Russell injury: pic.twitter.com/DHjGjp1cOB
— Connor Letourneau (@Con_Chron) November 17, 2019
Kerr said the Warriors are going to just have to “deal with it,” while Russell is out, but he’s glad it’s not worse.
Before the Russell injury, Coach Kerr’s pantry was already empty. Add Russell to the list behind Kevin Durant, Stephen Curry, and Klay Thompson as players the coach is trying to replace—mark that as four All-Stars, a couple of MVPs and a scoring champion. This is new territory for the Warriors coach that’s captained championship rosters filled with talent.
He’s now in charge of getting the most out of a roster with only nine healthy players that include several rookies and players on two-way contracts.
Kerr seems to be moving on from the Russell injury and focusing on the start of the Dubs’ road trip.
“We got four games on the road—we got to figure out a way to hold down the fort,” said Kerr.
The Dub’s play nine of their next 11 away from Chase Center and a good chunk of those games will be without their leading scorer, Russell. Golden State will find out what they have in players like Ky Bowman, Jordan Poole, and Alec Burks.