OAKLAND -- As Warriors coach Steve Kerr navigates minutes for his roster in the coming days, only one rotation player is certain to be left out.
Veteran forward Matt Barnes, with a sprain of his right ankle/foot, will miss the last two regular-season games and possibly a portion of the first-round playoff series that begins this weekend against Portland.
“He’s limping a little bit this morning,” Kerr said prior to tipoff against Utah Monday night. “It’s just a day-to-day thing. It’s not a bad sprain, but it’s significant enough that he’s going to miss the rest of this week. And we’ll hopefully get him back during the first round. I don’t know when.”
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Barnes has been getting minutes as both backup forward spots, but predominantly at power forward in the team’s small-ball lineups.
Beyond Barnes, all other rotation players are in play. Though Klay Thompson was given a rest Monday night, the starting five -- Zaza Pachulia, Draymond Green, Kevin Durant, Stephen Curry and Thompson -- is expected to play against the Lakers Wednesday in the season finale.
“I would expect most of the guys to play,” Kerr said. “But it wouldn’t shock me if maybe Shaun or Andre took a night off. We’ll get to that point Wednesday. But Klay, Steph, KD, Draymond, those guys will all play as of right now.”