Since February 6, the Golden State Warriors have had Kristaps Porzingis in the lineup twice.
The big deadline deal for Golden State is turning out to be a flop late into the year. While it seemed the situation was slowly turning around, as Porzingis returned to the court for the Warriors’ March 7 matchup against the Oklahoma City Thunder, the veteran center is already back on the injury report and listed as out against the Utah Jazz.
The Warriors are labeling Porzingis’ absence as illness management.
The Kristaps Porzingis Warriors Experience
After the Warriors scooped up Porzingis from the Atlanta Hawks ahead of the deadline, the team didn’t plan to have the veteran center in the mix until after the All-Star break.
For the Warriors’ first game back from the break, Porzingis debuted off the bench. He turned in a 17-minute showing. The veteran shot 5-9 from the field to score 12 points. He also came down with one rebound, dished out one assist, and blocked one shot.
The Warriors lost against Porzingis’ former team, the Boston Celtics, with a score of 121-110.
An illness took Porzingis off the court for the next six games. He finally returned on Saturday night to face the Oklahoma City Thunder.
Porzingis checked in for 23 minutes off the bench. The veteran big man shot 3-10 from the field to score nine points. He also came down with five rebounds and produced five assists. On defense, he blocked one shot.
The Warriors struggled against the champions, losing 104-97.
When Can Porzingis Return Next?
The 30-year-old is on a day-to-day timeline.
Monday’s game marks the opening of a back-to-back set for the Warriors. With Porzingis out, the next time he could return to the court for Golden State would be on Tuesday, when the Warriors host the Chicago Bulls.
Steve Kerr and the Warriors will have more clarity on Porzingis’ Tuesday night availability once they wrap up a matchup in Utah.
At 32-31, the Warriors are sitting eighth in the Western Conference. They hope to get some reinforcements soon.
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