SAN FRANCISCO \u2014 Will Richard wore a walking boot on his right foot. Moses Moody jammed his wrist and banged his shoulder and watched most of the second half from the locker room.<\/p>\n
And those were just the players not already on the Warriors\u2019 injury report before this week.<\/p>\n
The attrition continued to catch up to an undermanned Golden State squad<\/a>, which allowed a 17-point lead to evaporate Monday night in a 114-101 loss to the Clippers<\/a>.<\/p>\n Head coach Steve Kerr of the Golden State Warriors gestures during the second quarter of an NBA game against the New Orleans Pelicans at Smoothie King Center on February 24, 2026 in New Orleans, Louisiana. Getty Images<\/p>\n Steve Kerr took it a step further afterward, describing the Warriors as \u201cseverely\u201d undermanned<\/a>. He\u2019s not wrong when his team has no idea when Steph Curry<\/a> or Kristaps Porzingis will play again \u2014 and, in Jimmy Butler\u2019s case, knows it will not be until next season.<\/p>\n The fact that the Warriors were able to zoom out to a 44-27 advantage was probably more notable than a team led by Kawhi Leonard outscoring them 87-57 the rest of the way.<\/p>\n The 17-point lead before halftime was the biggest the Warriors have relinquished this season.<\/p>\n Afterward, Kerr praised Leonard as \u201cprobably the best player in the league for the last month.\u201d The same couldn\u2019t be said for anybody in uniform for the Warriors at any point in their careers.<\/p>\n The boisterous Brandin Podziemski might disagree, and he at least looked like arguably the best player on the floor while scoring 20 points on 8-of-12 shooting in the first half. But he disappeared after intermission and contributed only one more basket \u2014 a potential three-point play that he couldn\u2019t convert at the foul line.<\/p>\n Draymond Green was attached to Leonard at the hip and contained him to eight points and only six shot attempts in the first half. But Green wore down, and Leonard extended his streak of scoring 20 or more to a 38th consecutive game, scoring 15 while going 6-of-8 from the field as the Clippers outscored the Warriors 72-45 in the second half.<\/p>\n Stephen Curry of the Golden State Warriors dribbles the ball against the Toronto Raptors in the first half of an NBA basketball game at Chase Center on January 20, 2026 in San Francisco, California. Getty Images<\/p>\n Matching substitution patterns almost to a tee, the Warriors finished minus-18 during Green\u2019s minutes; the Clippers were plus-16 with Leonard on the court.<\/p>\n \u201cDraymond\u2019s effort and energy set the tone for the whole first half,\u201d Kerr said. \u201cHe was all over the place, flying around. We were really able to contain Kawhi because of Draymond. \u2026<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s tough to sustain that kind of effort for 48 minutes when you\u2019re severely undermanned.\u201d<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\tThe California Post is here. Sign up for Morning Report.\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n \n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tGet the perfect blend of news, sports and entertainment delivered to your inbox every day.\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\tThanks for signing up!\n\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n In the rare instances Green got switched off Leonard, the matchup more often than not fell on Nate Williams, a 6-foot-5 shooting guard the Warriors signed to a two-way contract Feb. 17.<\/p>\n In the absence of competitive basketball, there are at least good stories, and Williams is one of them. The 27-year-old product of nearby Prolific Prep (Napa) dropped a career-high 18 points in his second game with Golden State \u2014 his fourth in four days between the NBA and the G League.<\/p>\n Asked about matching up against Leonard, Williams said, \u201cHe bleeds just like I bleed.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t fear no challenge. \u2026 I fear God. That\u2019s the only man I fear,\u201d he said. \u201cI\u2019m from Rochester, New York, in the back streets. If you go in my neighborhood, you would know why I\u2019m this way.\u201d<\/p>\n It was a big week in more ways than one for Williams.<\/p>\n \u201cAnd he just had a baby,\u201d Kerr said. \u201cI don\u2019t know if I was supposed to announce that or not.\u201d<\/p>\n Jimmy Butler III of the Golden State Warriors dribbles the ball against the New York Knicks at Chase Center on January 15, 2026 in San Francisco, California. Getty Images<\/p>\n Williams scored 13 of his points after halftime and earned a good chunk of that playing time filling in for Moody, who went to the bench at the end of the third quarter and didn\u2019t return.<\/p>\n The Warriors didn\u2019t have much information after the game on Moody, who went diving to the floor and collided with Darius Garland in a play that left both players briefly shaken up.<\/p>\n Richard, who was ruled out after rolling his right ankle Saturday against the Lakers, is considered day-to-day.<\/p>\n It\u2019s all probably moot without Curry, who won\u2019t return until next Wednesday at the earliest. He missed his 11th consecutive game with an overuse injury commonly known as runner\u2019s knee, and Golden State fell to 8-14 this season without the two-time MVP.<\/p>\n Curry has described the injury as \u201ca weird one\u201d and \u201cunpredictable\u201d \u2014 and that\u2019s not even the biggest unknown on the Warriors\u2019 injury report. It appeared as though Porzingis was trending toward returning when he practiced Friday, but has since missed two more games \u2014 five total \u2014 with a medical issue that Kerr described as \u201ca little mysterious.\u201d<\/p>\n Golden State Warriors center Kristaps Porzingis gestures after making a 3-point basket during the first half of an NBA basketball game against the Boston Celtics in San Francisco, Thursday, Feb. 19, 2026. AP<\/p>\n It doesn\u2019t get any easier for the Warriors, who now head to Houston to face the Rockets on Thursday before a matchup against the best-in-the-West Thunder in Oklahoma City on Saturday.<\/p>\n Golden State (31-30) could be below .500 by the time it arrives in Utah to face the Jazz in a gettable third and final game of the road trip. The good news is that they can only fall so far; there\u2019s little chance any of the tanking teams below the 10th seed overtake the Warriors.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019ve just got to suit up and try to win games,\u201d Podziemski said. \u201cWe can\u2019t worry about the uncertainties or unknowns of the season. At least that\u2019s how I try to approach it.\u201d<\/p>\n Download The California Post App, follow us on social, and subscribe to our newsletters <\/p>\n California Post News: Facebook<\/a>, Instagram<\/a>, TikTok<\/a>, X<\/a>, YouTube<\/a>, WhatsApp<\/a>, LinkedIn<\/a> \t\t\t\t\t\t
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