HOUSTON — The Golden State Warriors and Houston Rockets may very well meet in the NBA playoffs. When the Warriors (30-8) visit the Houston Rockets (27-9) on Thursday, both teams will be without some of their key star players.
The Warriors ruled out starting forward Kevin Durant after he strained his right calf in the first quarter of Wednesday’s win in Dallas. The Rockets will be without starting shooting guard James Harden, who will be sidelined for at least two weeks because of a Grade 2 hamstring strain. Though Warriors forward Andre Iguodala is expected to be available after sitting out in Dallas with a low back and hip strain, the Warriors reserve forward Omri Casspi is listed as questionable after nursing a mid back strain that also sidelined him in Dallas.
“They’re going to play the same way. But they’re missing the guy that would probably be the MVP of the league right now,” Warriors coach Steve Kerr said of Harden. “So it’s obviously a huge loss for him. To be honest, I’d much rather play them with him. We need to get used to what we might see down the road. We might see them in the playoffs.”
The Rockets won their season opener against Golden State, but that also happened amid unique circumstances. While Rockets guard Chris Paul sat in the fourth quarter with a knee injury, so did Warriors forward Draymond Green.
