SAN FRANCISCO — Warriors Struggle Despite Porzingis’ Return

The Warriors managed a tiny step forward but quickly stumbled again.

Kristaps Porzingis made his first start and showcased his best performance yet, seemingly making progress in his fight against the “mysterious” illness that has kept him off the court.

However, there was little to celebrate in the Golden State locker room after Anthony Edwards and three other players left sidelined in a 127-117 defeat to the Timberwolves on Friday night.

“We’ve lost more than any team I can ever remember,” mentioned coach Steve Kerr.

In the current situation for the Warriors, even minor victories come with setbacks.

Draymond Green was ruled out shortly before the game began. Al Horford played just five minutes before leaving the game, and both Seth Curry and Quinten Post exited early as well. The Warriors ended the game with only eight players available.

Containing Edwards became a daunting task, as he scored a staggering 42 points. There was hardly enough energy left to appreciate Porzingis’ 20 points in 19 minutes—only surpassed by Brandin Podzemski, who racked up 25 points.

“Kristaps seems to be getting more comfortable,” Kerr said. “I thought he felt better tonight than he did last night, so here’s hoping that continues.”

This game marked the third of the last four for the Warriors after Porzingis had previously missed 10 of his first 11 games. Before the matchup, Kerr noted that Porzingis was “finding answers” to remain healthy.

Porzingis contributed by finding a rhythm with Podzemski and De’Anthony Melton, as Kerr described it.

Porzingis acknowledged he has “a long way to go” but feels “happy with the progress.” He also expressed excitement about the upcoming road trip, where he’ll face all five of his former teams. Though still limited to about 20 minutes, he should be able to participate in most games during this trip.

His opportunity to start alongside Horford arose only due to unfortunate circumstances; Green’s ongoing back issues flared up again. Kerr had hoped to experiment with both veteran big men together, but that was short-lived as Horford left shortly after entering the game.

The Warriors later announced that Horford has a strained right calf, with Kerr indicating that he would be out for an uncertain period.

“We don’t know how long Al will be out,” he said. “But with a calf issue, we’re not likely to rush him back.”

Curry, meanwhile, departed with left groin soreness, while Post sprained his left ankle. The team was already without Stephen Curry, who played in 16 consecutive games, and Moses Moody, along with Jimmy Butler, who’s out for the season due to a torn ACL.

Kerr compared figuring out his rotations to solving a Rubik’s Cube, as Melton, Will Richard, and Gary Payton II have also been sidelined. Podzemski, Guy Santos, and Pat Spencer are the only non-two-way players who have participated in all six games this month.

Interestingly, Podzemski has not missed a game this season and expressed his desire to play through all 82 games. “The difficult thing about injuries is the strain of back-to-back games, especially since we have six of the nine games coming up,” he remarked.

Santos mentioned that he feels fresh but has appeared fatigued during recent games. Since early February, he has averaged 32 minutes per game, a notable increase from 12.3 before that. Podzemski has played over 35 minutes in five of the past six games this month.

“We always try to run for each other and make extra plays, but losing so many players makes it tough,” Santos noted.

The losses are accumulating, both on the court and in the training room. The Warriors’ losing streak has now reached four games, and they find themselves two games under .500 at 32-34, only half a game ahead of the 10th-place Trail Blazers.

Golden State will continue without Curry for at least four more games. Kerr was uncertain if he would join the team on their flight to New York for a six-game road trip.

Despite the challenges, Podzemski viewed the situation as a “luck in disguise.” Kerr shares that sentiment. If the roster returns to health, the experience and confidence gained by the role players could be boosted by reinforcements from established stars.

He believes brighter days are ahead: “There is light at the end of the tunnel,” Podzemski added. “But until you see that light, it doesn’t really matter.”