Posts

Posted on

Steph assesses tailbone injury severity after return in Warriors' win

Steph assesses tailbone injury severity after return in Warriors' win originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area

Steph Curry returned from his tailbone injury to lead the Warriors to a 111-95 win over the New Orleans Pelicans on Friday night.

Following a hard fall in a March 20 contest against the Toronto Raptors, the star guard missed Golden State’s next two games — both of which ended in losses.

After scoring 23 points on 7 of 21 from the field and 5 of 16 from 3-point range, Curry illustrated the severity of his injury, which he described as a “deep, serious contusion.”

“It just reminded me of 2021 when I fell into the stairs in Houston,” Curry told reporters, referring to a similar fall that resulted in a hairline tailbone fracture. “Thankfully, I didn’t break anything or have any bone damage. … I’ll feel it for a while, but I can play, and I can’t make it worse as long as I don’t land on it again.”

Curry added that the injury didn’t bother or worry him in his return to game action — he said he’s just “aware of it” — though he isn’t sure how long the injury will linger.

“A week off is great in one aspect because you’re rested,” Curry continued. “But the timing, the endurance of getting through your regular minutes, that was a little bit of a challenge. Down the stretch, just trying to manage the game and not do anything crazy.”

While that break might have helped the 37-year-old regain some physical strength for the remainder of the season, Curry also disclosed the mental effects of the absence.

“I was away from the team for three days, which was kind of weird, but I could fill the cup up a little bit,” he explained. “I thought I was going to play in Miami and kind of went through the routine but wasn’t able to go for the game. So, it was another two days to get my mind right.”

Coach Steve Kerr shared a similar sentiment on his veteran leader’s needed return — but valuable break as well.

“I thought [Curry] looked great,” Kerr said in his postgame presser. “He was moving really well, took care of the ball. I thought Steph played an excellent game. He probably missed his last five or six 3s, so the numbers don’t look great, but he looked like himself and I think the week off did him a lot of good.”

With nine games left in the NBA regular season, Golden State needs Curry to have as much mental and physical energy as possible going forward. After Friday night, the Warriors, Los Angeles Clippers and Minnesota all remained within half a game in the Western Conference standings seeking the No. 6 seed and an evasion from the play-in tournament.

Download and follow the Dubs Talk Podcast

Posted on

Springs' strong debut sparks Athletics' first win of 2025 season

Springs' strong debut sparks Athletics' first win of 2025 season originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area

Jeffrey Springs pitched a scoreless six-inning gem in his Athletics debut on Friday night and sparked the Green and Gold’s first win of the 2025 MLB season, a 7-0 victory over the Seattle Mariners at T-Mobile Park.

The right-handed starter, who was acquired this offseason via trade from the Tampa Bay Rays, needed 83 pitches to collect nine strikeouts and allowed just four baserunners on three hits and one walk.

“Overall, definitely I’ll take it for the first one,” Springs told reporters after Friday’s win. “Being able to go six, be efficient, that was kind of the goal. Just be efficient, get the pitch count down — that was a big issue in spring training — and just try to go right at hitters and fill it up as much as possible.

“Pretty pleased with how the first one went.”

Springs used 41 four-seam fastballs, peaking at 91.8 miles per hour on the night, and generated six whiffs with the heater. He also went to his changeup 22 times – finishing six of nine strikeouts with the breaking ball – and sprinkled in 13 sliders, six cutters and one sweeper.

It was the 32-year-old’s first start since Sep. 3, as he was shut down by the Rays after making seven starts in 2024 due to elbow fatigue directly related to the Tommy John Surgery he underwent in 2023.

Springs’ only trouble against Seattle was a two-on, one-out jam in the fifth, but a clutch throw-turned-out at home from JJ Bleday followed by the centerfielder’s inning-ending sliding catch kept the Athletics unscathed.

This offseason, fourth-year manager Mark Kotsay discussed Spring’s experience as a seven-year MLB veteran as an attractive aspect of his arrival, considering the franchise’s heavy reliance on youth over the past few seasons. Kotsay, who already enjoyed prized free-agent signing Luis Severino’s six scoreless frames on Opening Day, can get used to Friday’s version of Springer.

“Jeffrey really controlled the game. [He] changed speeds really well tonight, had a great game plan against them, and used it effectively,” Kotsay told reporters postgame. “Nine punch-outs in six innings says a lot about his performance and his stuff.”

Athletics relievers – in order: righty Justin Sterner, lefty T.J. McFarland and righty Mitch Spence – collectively finished the job with a scoreless three endings to set the table for the penultimate series game on Saturday at 6:40 p.m. PT.

The Green and Gold’s first offensive burst of the season made the Pacific Northwest evening that much more leisurely, a complete flip from its three-hit season-opener.

The scoring started in the fifth, as right-fielder Lawrence Butler registered his first hit of the year with a double off Mariners starter Luis Castillo and was brought home by Brent Rooker’s two-run home run, which was the designated hitter’s first knock of 2025.

A pair of singles from Bleday and catcher Shea Langeliers with a ground-rule double from first baseman Tyler Soderstrom – all with two outs against left-handed Seattle reliever Tayler Saucedo – gave the Green and Gold three more runs in the seventh.

“Tonight was a great night for [Rooker], tonight was a great night for a lot of guys in the lineup,” Kotsay said. “The top four guys (Butler, Rooker, Bleday and Langeliers), who I talked to last night, only reached base once (on Thursday). They were a driving force tonight. … That’s production [and] that’s where it needs to come.”

Athletics rookie second baseman Max Muncy put the icing on the cake in the eighth when recording his first career hit with a 430-foot home run to center off right-handed Mariners reliever Carlos Vargas.

“It was definitely exciting,” Muncy said on NBC Sports California’s “A’s Postgame Live” with Jenny Cavnar and Dallas Braden. “He got me down 0-2 early, and I just kind of stuck with my plan, and he ended up leaving his changeup over the plate, and I was able to get it out of here.”

And to really send the Seattle faithful home bitter, Luis Urías hit a 396-foot homer to left-center against Vargas and his former club, in a pinch-hit bid for third baseman Gio Urshela.

It was a top-to-bottom victory for the Athletics and one the franchise aims to build on. Last year, they started 0-3 and later 1-7. The Green and Gold are on a better trajectory in 2025.

Right-hander Osvaldo Bido is expected to take the mound for the Athletics on Saturday against righty Bryce Miller. The Athletics haven’t started 2-1 since the coronavirus-shortened 2020 season, also the last campaign the Green and Gold reached the postseason.

Posted on

Buckle Up: The NHL Playoff Race Intensifies As More Teams Fall Behind

Brendan Gallagher and Filip Hronek (Bob Frid-Imagn Images)

We’re fast approaching the final couple of weeks of the NHL regular season, and the playoff races are at a boiling point.

If there’s one thing that’s clear now, it's that the battle for a wild-card spot is shrinking by the day. 

The Eastern Conference is still more competitive, while the Western Conference playoff race has come down to only a few teams. But in the cases of both conferences, the final playoff seeds won’t be decided until the final days of the season. That means there will be much more drama in the next month and intense contests from here on out.

As it stands, there are a handful of teams that did challenge for a playoff spot earlier this season but are more or less now out of the playoff mix, according to moneypuck.com odds. We’re talking about the Utah Hockey Club (0.8 percent chance of making the playoffs), the Detroit Red Wings (3.9 percent) and Columbus Blue Jackets (16.8 percent). A minor miracle will have to happen for just one of these teams to make it into the post-season, let alone all three teams.

Utah started to make things really interesting earlier in March but is 4-4-2 in their last 10 games, falling to 10 points behind the red-hot St. Louis Blues. The Blue Jackets and  Red Wings are a hot streak away from getting back into the race, but considering Columbus is 2-7-1 in their last 10 games and Detroit is 3-7-0, it’s not looking great despite only being two and three points behind the Montreal Canadiens, respectively.

In the Western Conference, the Calgary Flames (18 percent) and Vancouver Canucks (19.2 percent) have a better shot at making the playoffs than Utah but need almost everything to go right in their final games.

Their fate is not entirely in their own hands, because the two teams currently above the Flames and Canucks are both looking likely to make the playoffs.

The surging Blues (73.1 percent) and Minnesota Wild (92 percent) are looking like safe bets to make it into the playoffs. One of them would need to totally fall apart to open up the door for Calgary or Vancouver to get in.

Although the Wild fell out of the top three in the Central Division because of injuries to star left winger Kirill Kaprizov and center Joel Eriksson Ek, they’re still two points ahead of St. Louis, seven ahead of Vancouver and eight ahead of Calgary.

St. Louis won eight games in a row to get to this point – they were out of a playoff spot two weeks ago but now have a five-point cushion with two more games played than Calgary. 

There is even less certainty in the race for the second wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference.

The first wild-card spot is coming into focus. The Ottawa Senators lead the Canadiens by six points and sit eight points behind the Tampa Bay Lightning for third place in the Atlantic Division, so they look pretty set to end their seven-season playoff drought and face the top team in the Atlantic. Funny enough, as of March 28, MoneyPuck gives the Senators a slightly higher chance of making the playoffs (98.6 percent) than the Edmonton Oilers (97 percent).

One On One: General Manager Steve Staios' Additions Help To Reset The Ottawa SenatorsOne On One: General Manager Steve Staios' Additions Help To Reset The Ottawa SenatorsOttawa Senators general manager Steve Staios deserves credit for the players he has brought in over the last calendar year.

The Canadiens, New York Rangers and New York Islanders are still in the thick of things. Montreal holds the second wild-card spot by one point over the Islanders and Rangers, but the Blueshirts played one more game. 

MoneyPuck currently gives the Habs the best shot of earning a playoff spot at 34 percent, followed by the Rangers (26.1 percent) and the Isles (22.8 percent). These teams – and Columbus or Detroit if they turn red-hot for a final push at the post-season – should give NHL fans a thrilling finish to the regular season.

NHL Power Rankings: Jets Take Back No. 1 As Worst Clubs Near The Chopping BlockNHL Power Rankings: Jets Take Back No. 1 As Worst Clubs Near The Chopping BlockWelcome back to The Hockey News' NHL power rankings, where we rank all 32 teams based on their weekly performance.

Another valuable site, tankathon.com, ranks the teams with the most difficult remaining schedules. The Red Wings have the toughest schedule, so they’re not getting much help at all. 

After that, the Islanders have the third-toughest schedule, the Canucks’ is fourth-toughest, the Blue Jackets’ is ninth-toughest and the Blues’ is 10th-toughest. 

At the opposite end of that spectrum, the Senators have the fourth-easiest schedule, only playing three teams currently in a playoff position in their final 11 games.

In any case, there could be some upsets ahead, and the other big battle – for positioning at or near the top of the four NHL divisions – will also come down to the wire.

You can say what you will about the league’s points system, but you can’t argue that it doesn’t do what it’s tasked to do – to keep as many teams in the playoff hunt for as long as possible. 

We’ll have to wait a while longer before the post-season picture is complete, but until then, we’ll be treated to high-stakes hockey virtually every night. That will make for high drama from now right through the Cup final.

Get the latest news and trending stories by following The Hockey News on Google News and by subscribing to The Hockey News newsletter here. And share your thoughts by commenting below the article on THN.com.

Posted on

Fabian Hürzeler appeals to Brighton’s ‘blue heads’ to turn tables on Forest

Borrowing from the All Blacks, manager says the power of psychology has helped his side recover from 7-0 drubbing

Were Fabian Hürzeler in any doubt about the importance of the FA Cup to Brighton fans, he received a gentle reminder when back in his home town of Munich. Hürzeler’s short international break, among family and friends, received a polite but pointed interruption. “Walking through the city, one of the Brighton supporters called my name and said he’s really looking forward to the game,” said the club’s head coach. “He said that we have to give everything in this game, and of course you feel it, but for me it’s important that we don’t make it artificial excitement.”

Hürzeler, born a decade after Albion lost the 1983 final to Manchester United in a replay, can be excused for not knowing the lore of Steve Foster’s headband, Tony Grealish’s hirsute captaincy and the striker Gordon Smith’s “must score” miss. There are always the owner, Tony Bloom, and the club’s time-served staffers to run through the details. In any case, Brighton relived that Wembley day two seasons ago, another hard-luck loss to United in the semi-finals, this time on penalties.

Continue reading...
Posted on

Hornets' LaMelo Ball out for remainder of season, to have procedures on ankle, wrist

Fan favorite LaMelo Ball is out for the remainder of the season so he can have procedures to clean up nagging issues with his ankles and wrist, the team announced Friday.

Ball had played through pain in recent weeks, according to reports, but with the Hornets more focused on the lottery than winning games, the smart play is to shut their leading scorer down. Charlotte currently has the third-worst record in the league (18-54), and the three worst teams each have a 14% chance at the No. 1 pick, however for the team with the fourth-worst record that falls to 12.5% (and the risk of falling further down in the lottery increases, too).

Ball averaged 25.2 points and 7.4 assists a game this season for the Hornets. He was the leading fan vote getter among Eastern Conference players, although he did not make the All-Star team (he was not a starter due to the player and media votes, then the coaches did not select him as a reserve).

Ball, 23, is part of a young core in Charlotte with Brandon Miller (22), Mark Edwards (23, although he is in trade rumors) and possibly even Miles Bridges (older at 26). That core, however, isn't winning many games right now, and this team still needs a true No. 1 option to build around.

There has been some talk about the Hornets trying to trade Ball this summer, but his market would be limited. Part of that is his max contract, Ball has four years and $168.6 million remaining on his extension that kicked in this year. The other part of that is he is seen in league circles as more of a floor raiser than a guy who is the point guard of a contender. That is due to Ball's defensive struggles, plus the perception that his stats are more "empty calories" than those leading a team to wins.

Ball should be healthy and ready for summer training, then when training camp opens in the fall. Who will be with Ball in Charlotte next fall is the big question.

Posted on

Warriors hope resilient win over Pelicans sparks needed resurgence

Warriors hope resilient win over Pelicans sparks needed resurgence originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area

After three consecutive troubling performances against inferior opponents, the Warriors spent most of Friday night trending toward a fourth such act, this time against a team considerably worse than the previous three.

The New Orleans Pelicans, 20-53, missing four starters and already seated on the bullet train to the NBA draft lottery, put up all the fight the Warriors could take before Golden State, finally, in the fourth quarter, responded like a team in a playoff race.

The Warriors needed every bit of their 15-point fourth-quarter advantage to slip out of Smoothie King Center with a 111-95 victory that left them still searching for satisfaction.

“I thought we stuck with it,” Draymond Green told reporters in New Orleans. “Got off to a slow start, and then once we found our footing we kind of found our rhythm. And in the second half, it really started to feel like us.

“Not great. It can get a lot better. But I love the way we closed the game.”

Golden State through three quarters managed only a one-point lead (83-82) over New Orleans’ backups before finding their bearings in the fourth quarter as the Pelicans ran aground in ways the Atlanta Hawks and Miami Heat – the previous two opponents – did not.

The Warriors are so deep in their own quicksand they’re hoping those 12 good minutes, against a team with no business threatening them, are enough to pull them out.

“I thought we played fine,” coach Steve Kerr said. “I didn’t love the passing, especially in the first half, but we took care of the ball better in the second half. We missed some wide-open shooters in the first half and didn’t pass them the ball. That disrupted our rhythm and kind of messed with the game a little bit.

“But overall, I thought we got really good shots. The second half was much better with the ball movement, the flow, and the defense was good.”

That this was such a grind demonstrates that the Warriors, even with the return of Stephen Curry, offered little to signify they have solved the issues that have nagged them since their last satisfying win, March 18 over the Milwaukee Bucks.

Golden State once again fell behind early. Shot poorly. Had the kind of defensive lapses that would be fatal against a quality team. There was, until the fourth quarter, a relative absence of the desperation necessary to have any chance of finishing the regular season among the top six teams in the Western Conference.

The loss Tuesday in Miami pushed the Warriors into seventh place, back into the Play-In Tournament box for the first time since the first week of March. Finishing seventh or lower would send a team built around advanced veterans – who would benefit from recovery time before the postseason – plunging immediately into the Play-In Tournament.

Curry, who scored 23 points in his return after missing two games, explained the team’s desire to climb back into the top six in the West. 

“It’s extremely important,” he said. “You guarantee a series, and you get a week off. Nobody wants to be in the Play-In if you can control the outcome.”

Sixth place is a pipe dream for the Warriors if they shoot 41.3 percent from the field, including 23.6 percent from distance, as they did against the Pelicans. Or if they allow a team to shoot 68 percent from beyond the arc, as the Heat did three days ago. Or if they allow a team to shoot 57 percent from the field, as the Hawks did last week.

While the Warriors were spending three quarters chasing their heels in New Orleans, their closest competitors, the Los Angeles Clippers, were laying a 132-100 roasting on the sub-mediocre Brooklyn Nets. The only team to beat Los Angeles in the last two weeks is first-place Oklahoma City.

This is the point of the season when teams in the playoff race are supposed to be sharpening their edge, blasting lesser opponents and saving their best for those in the same fight. Los Angeles is trending up. The Warriors, 3-3 over their last six games, are trending sideways.

“The last two games, Atlanta and Miami, there were stretches where we were the more aggressive team and more physical,” Curry said. “We got back in the games, even though offensively, we were struggling.

“If we could just keep that energy and that spirit about us, you have to believe the shots will fall at a higher rate. And then that’s when the dam can open and (we can get back to) the basketball we were playing during that 16-2 stretch.”

Next on the schedule are the Spurs, the last of five consecutive opponents with losing records. If the final 12 minutes in New Orleans are some kind of remedy, it will be apparent in the first 12 minutes Sunday in San Antonio.

Download and follow the Dubs Talk Podcast

Posted on

Warrington beat Leeds in fitting thriller for Super League’s 5,000th game

  • Warrington 16-14 Leeds
  • Visitors squander eight-point lead in second half

Almost 29 years to the day since Super League kicked off in Paris amid a flurry of excitement and hysteria, two teams with very different histories in the competition’s biggest games delivered a thriller for the 5,000th match in the history of the league.

The early evidence is still unclear on whether or not Warrington can claim a first Super League title – and first league title since 1955 – this year, or whether Leeds can add to the eight Grand Finals they already have. But they certainly showed enough between them to suggest they will be in the mix when the pressure is on come September and the scramble for Old Trafford reaches boiling point.

Continue reading...
Posted on

What gave Draymond confidence to guarantee Warriors championship

What gave Draymond confidence to guarantee Warriors championship originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area

Having won four NBA championships, Draymond Green knows what it takes to find success on the biggest stage in basketball.

So when the Warriors forward declared his team would do it again this season after its big trade-deadline acquisition of Jimmy Butler, he had plenty to back his bold prediction.

“When you’ve done something several times, each time feels different,” Green explained to NBC Sports Bay Area’s Kerith Burke and Monte Poole on the latest “Dubs Talk” episode. “This thing needed to turn for us to win this one. That thing needed to turn for us to win that one.

“But amongst all of them, there’s a feeling you have and you know. And you’re like, ‘Oh, this team can do it and here’s why.’ “

It didn’t take long after Butler’s arrival to Golden State for Green to sense that feeling he referenced.

Green made the declaration on Feb. 16 over NBA All-Star Weekend. Butler had played four games with the team by then, in which the Warriors were 3-1.

While it was a small sample size to measure, Green had seen — and felt — enough to speak a fifth championship ring into existence.

“I think when the All-Star break had rolled around, we had played like five games with Jimmy, but I knew the feeling playing in those games,” Green said. “I knew the chemistry. I knew when this thing is going wrong, we got this thing we can go to now. I knew we got Jimmy, that allows us to play small ball, that allows us to go big, that allows us to play different lineups. When you’re trying to win a championship — if you’re going to compete for a championship — you must be able to throw different lineups out there.

“You may remember last year Steph [Curry] and Steve [Kerr] were talking about how we ran out of options. What they were referring to was we could not match any lineup that a team put on the floor. Now, with adding Jimmy, that gives us a much greater chance at matching any lineup that a team could possibly put on the floor. And in the playoffs, that matters.”

The Warriors have gone 16-5 since Butler first suited up on Feb. 8, and they are trying to hold on to the Western Conference’s No. 6 playoff seed in a tight postseason race.

On top of the feeling Green has, he also attributes facts to support his prediction.

“Steph definitely knows how to win a championship,” Green said. “I know how to win a championship. And quite honestly, Jimmy. Jimmy’s gotten to the Finals twice with teams he probably shouldn’t have gotten there with. And to get that far and be on the verge of just one play needing to go your way, he has the know-how. So amongst us three, and don’t add in our maestro who is the guru when it comes to winning championships, he’s got nine of them. We have the know-how — and that’s a big part of it, too.

“Now we have this ability to match lineups, we have this ability to get to the free-throw line, we have this ability to defend. I know what equals. I know how that feels. I also know what the vibe of a championship team feels like — and this team got that. So that’s why I said it. I believe it.”

But there was one final reason Green said what he said on national television during the annual basketball showcase. Despite his proclamation quickly going viral, Green’s message was intended for one specific group.

“And the last reason I said it was because I needed my teammates to understand this is what we’re doing,” Green said. “This is what we’re going after. So more than anybody I was talking to my teammates. I was talking to them.”

Download and follow the Dubs Talk Podcast

Posted on

Mets' Paul Blackburn's knee progressing 'really well,' will start throwing Monday

Mets pitcher Paul Blackburn said an MRI revealed “no structural damage” to his right knee and that he will soon resume throwing after beginning the season on the 15-day injured list.

“I should be able to start throwing on my feet on Monday,” the pitcher said from the clubhouse in Houston ahead of Friday’s game.

Blackburn added that the news he’s received about his knee so far has been good and “everything has progressed really well.” Of course, the 31-year-old said it is “frustrating,” but he's glad the issue isn’t worse.

“It could have been structural damage, it could have been a lot of other stuff instead of, we just have to drain this and kind of wait a week and then we’re able to just kind of pick up where we left off,” he said.

Mets president of baseball operations David Stearns said Blackburn’s knee had already responded "really well" to the injection he received on Monday to deal with inflammation. Stearns announced that the veteran right-hander would start the season on the 15-day IL on Wednesday, and that he would be shut down from throwing for 7-10 days.

“Right now it’s just kind of waiting those seven days to just rotate on it again,” Blackburn said Friday.

Blackburn said the injury first presented itself after his final outing of the spring on March 22. He woke up the following morning and the knee was sore but “nothing crazy.” It wasn’t until the morning of Monday, March 24, when there was a “sack of fluid in there” that had to be drained. A gel was then injected.

The veteran wasn’t sure what caused the injury, but revealed an MRI showed “a little bit of cartilage that just seemed a bit pissed off.”

Stearns was upbeat about the situation, and expected Blackburn to return at some point in April. He'll presumably slide into the bullpen, after Griffin Canning and Tylor Megill beat him out for the final two spots in the starting rotation this spring.

It has been a rough start to Blackburn’s tenure with the Mets on the injury front since he arrived in Queens at last season's trade deadline. A line drive off his right arm sent him to the IL in August before a back injury led to a spinal procedure that ended his season.

“I feel for him,” manager Carlos Mendoza said on Friday. “He’s been through some freaky injuries, some scary ones. Especially the one that he was dealing with the back and the fluid and all that, pretty scary.

“And then he worked so hard in the offseason. He’s having a really good camp and feeling good and then for this to pop up his last start in spring training. He’ll get through it.”

When asked about his auspicious time with the Mets, Blackburn just shook his head and, with a wry smile, said, “I don’t know. I really don’t know. Just part of it, I guess.”

Posted on

Novak Djokovic dismantles Grigor Dimitrov to reach Miami Open final

  • Serb beats Dimitrov 6-2, 6-3 for shot at 100th career title
  • Djokovic misses six first serves in entire match


Novak Djokovic delivered an emphatic display to seal his place in the Miami Open final with a straight-sets victory over Grigor Dimitrov.

The 24-time grand slam champion needed only 69 minutes to secure a one-sided 6-2, 6-3 win against his Bulgarian opponent. Djokovic, 37, is bidding to land his 100th career title – and a record seventh in Miami – and his first since teaming up with Andy Murray as his coach.

Continue reading...
Posted on

Doctor explains why GP2 II's injury return could be ‘challenging'

Doctor explains why GP2 II's injury return could be ‘challenging' originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area

Warriors guard Gary Payton will be sidelined for the next few days as he continues to deal with a partial tear of a ligament in his left thumb.

He was ruled out of Friday’s game against the New Orleans Pelicans and will be re-evaluated next Thursday. While he rehabs the injury on his left shooting hand, Dr. Seth Sherman of Stanford Medicine explained why the road to recovery could be difficult.

“It’s obviously challenging for shooters when it’s your left thumb, that’s critically important,” Dr. Sherman said to NBC Sports Bay Area. “Of course, you can shift and play different roles and still help a team and protect yourself. Defensively, for sure, but there’s no getting around dribbling a basketball, shooting, and, there’s a difference between a stable partial injury where we can live our lives and do the things that make some of us do day-to-day and being in the NBA and performing at that high level.

“So that might lead to a little variability in the time loss, but nonetheless, I don’t think it changes the ultimate prognosis, meaning, injury that’s proven to be partial, stable, if in fact, that’s what it is, usually is something that can be treated conservatively.”

Payton II has been a key piece of coach Steve Kerr’s rotation that has proven to work as of late. In 58 games this season, he’s averaging 6.6 points, 3 rebounds and 1.3 assists per game on 58.5-percent shooting from the field and 33 percent from 3-point range in 14.9 minutes off the bench.

The 32-year-old recently suffered a non-displaced nose fracture in the Warriors’ win over the Charlotte Hornets on March 3 and has played with a mask for the previous nine games he was active before his thumb injury.

Dr. Sherman explained that his potential return will depend on defining the exact injury and when it occurred, noting it could be a positive sign that Payton II played through the injury in Tuesday’s game.

“He was able to complete the game, so that speaks somewhat to the level of severity,” Dr. Sherman said. “I’m sure they did a careful physical exam. X-rays and perhaps an MRI, which helps hone in on the diagnosis. From all accounts, if it’s a quote-on-quote pain tolerance injury, I think that is a reassuring statement.

“That means that it’s not a huge complete and or surgical or unstable injury. So the time loss associated might be less. I think reevaluation in the short term is kind of the plan, non-surgical treatments for now. Splinting, working on range of motion, getting the swelling down, and then, you know, if it truly is partial stable, seeing how he does, with return to performance, in the short term.”

After New Orleans on Friday, the Warriors will visit the San Antonio Spurs, Memphis Grizzlies and Los Angeles Lakers to complete a six-game road trip before returning home to face the Denver Nuggets on April 4.

Download and follow the Dubs Talk Podcast