CHASE CENTER — For the third game in a row, the Golden State Warriors will be without starting forward Draymond Green.
Nursing a nagging heel injury, Green will miss his eighth game of the season as Golden State takes on the visiting Oklahoma City Thunder at Chase Center on Monday night.
Along with the heel, Green has dealt with finger, back and elbow injuries this season, severely limiting his time on the court.
“It’s lingering,” Warriors head coach Steve Kerr said. “It doesn’t seem like anything that goes on for too long. It’s also not something we want to aggravate that could keep him out for a long time. We just felt more comfortable giving him another couple of days.”
Originally, Kerr seemed very optimistic that Green would be back on the court against the Thunder, but instead, the former Defensive Player of the Year will get an extra two days of rest.
Green’s next opportunity to play will be against the Chicago Bulls on Nov. 27, giving him a seven-day stretch to recover from an injury that the Warriors coaching staff does not believe to be serious.
Without Green, who is averaging 8.7 points, 7.4 rebounds and 5.4 assists per game this season, the Warriors will have just eight players available on Monday for the third consecutive game.
In addition to Green, guard D’Angelo Russell will continue to sit with a right thumb injury and is set to be re-evaluated on Saturday. Kerr did mention that Russell will accompany the team on its five-game East Coast road trip.
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