On Monday night, the Phoenix Suns and the Golden State Warriors will battle it out for Western Conference supremacy.
Latest news on Stephen Curry and Draymond Green for this game
On Saturday, the Suns lost 128-119 to the Sacramento Kings. Now they have to deal with the Warriors and Bucks in quick succession, starting on Tuesday when Milwaukee visits Phoenix.
Both squads in Monday’s matchup will likely come out firing for the win. While the Suns’ fourth-place Western seed gives them a slight advantage in the first round of the playoffs, the Warriors are only 2 1/2 games back.
Phoenix has won the season series with the Warriors after victories by 29 and 11 points at home and a 125-113 victory on the road.
However, that was before Durant arrived and defensive stopper Mikal Bridges was free to bother Curry, who has been limited to 24 points or less in eight of his last eleven matchups against the Suns.
Bridges was part of the package the Thunder sent to the Nets in exchange for Kevin Durant, so he won’t be there to help the Nets’ cause against Curry this time around.
Kevin Durant sprained his left ankle during pregame warmups last Wednesday, less than a month after being traded from the Brooklyn Nets to the Phoenix Suns at the February trade deadline.
He was sidelined for the first six games due to a preexisting knee injury, but he returned earlier this month to help the Suns win three consecutive games away from home while averaging 26.7 points per contest.
Meanwhile, the Warriors have won seven straight at home, including a 125-116 overtime thriller on Saturday night against the Milwaukee Bucks.
It all came down to Stephen Curry, who was the game-winner. He helped the Warriors beat the best team in the Eastern Conference by scoring nine points in the final five minutes of regulation and 11 points in the final 1:51 of regulation to force overtime.
Curry turns 35 on Tuesday, so a break might be in order. In the game’s overtime victory, he matched his season high with 43 minutes played.
Draymond Green’s status for Monday’s game against the Suns due to an ankle injury is questionable.
In the victory over the Bucks on Saturday, Green experienced an ankle injury, but he played through it and declared afterward that he planned to play on Monday.
Managers should receive an official update on his availability for Monday’s game. It appears he will play through the ankle injury.
