With two more players set to return Thursday night, the Golden State Warriors have cleared three of their five players who recently entered the NBA's health and safety protocols amid the surge sweeping through the league. But as they get closer to full strength while embarking on a short road trip, their first opponent is reportedly hanging on by a thread.
The Denver Nuggets, who already had eight players ruled out or questionable for their game against Golden State, had their coach, Michael Malone, and three more players enter health and safety protocols Thursday morning, .
Forwards Jeff Green and Zeke Nnaji and guard Bones Hyland all entered protocols, according to Wojnarowski, along with Malone and two assistant coaches, leaving the already depleted Nuggets down a starter and two key reserves. According to the report, Denver's ability to meet the NBA minimum of eight active players could put the game in jeopardy, pending the status of four players listed as questionable.
Between Green, Aaron Gordon (questionable; left hamstring soreness) and Monte Morris (questionable; left knee soreness), Denver could be without three-fifths of its starting lineup, in addition to more than 30 points in bench scoring between Austin Rivers (questionable; right thumb sprain), P.J. Dozier (out; left ACL surgery), Vlatko Cancar (questionable: non-COVID-19 illness), Nnaji and Hyland.
The Nuggets on Tuesday in the first meeting of two of the Western Conference's top contenders, but Golden State is from health and safety protocols: starting guard Jordan Poole and rookie reserve Moses Moody, though they remain without the services of Draymond Green and Damion Lee (health and safety protocols).
Andrew Wiggins returned from protocols Tuesday and nearly willed the Warriors back from a 24-point deficit, but he and Steph Curry weren't quite enough for the short-handed squad in a defeat that came down to the buzzer.
Amid back-to-back games against a team in the midst of an outbreak, it wasn't immediately known whether any Warriors had been exposed, but no additional players were listed on the injury report ahead of Thursday's game.
In addition to Green and Lee, rehabbing second-year center James Wiseman entered health and safety protocols Wednesday, while assistant coaches Chris DeMarco and Mike Brown also remain in the protocols; fellow assistant Kenny Atkinson recently rejoined the bench following a leg injury but is still unable to travel.
Importantly, one player remains active and as much of a threat as ever: Denver's MVP forward Nikola Jokić, who torched the undermanned Warriors for a 22-point, 18-rebound double-double in their first meeting.
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