The Golden State Warriors finally got Stephen Curry back on the floor Sunday night in Houston. By Monday, the good news had already been undercut.
The latest blow: Gui Santos is out.
Santos Sidelined at the Wrong Time
Santos has been ruled out of Tuesday’s home game against the Sacramento Kings with a pelvic contusion, as reported by ClutchPoints’ Kenzo Fukuda. The issue traces back to March 29 in Denver, when Nuggets wing Christian Braun kneed him during the Warriors’ loss there.
He sat out the next game against the San Antonio Spurs, then pushed through to play in Golden State’s last two outings. On Monday, he was back on the practice floor, moving well enough to raise hopes he’d be available. The pain told a different story. The Warriors will keep him out.
For a fringe name on a national level, this lands like a star injury inside Golden State’s locker room. Santos has missed just one game since January 20 and has quietly become one of Steve Kerr’s steadiest rotation pieces. Energy, length, activity on both ends — he’s been the connective tissue in a forward group that doesn’t have much margin for error.
Now, with the play-in tournament looming and chemistry still a work in progress, that glue is gone. Even for one night, it stings.
A Crowded, Complicated Injury Report
Santos’ absence is only part of the story.
The Warriors’ injury sheet is packed. Kristaps Porzingis is listed as questionable with knee soreness. Al Horford and Quinten Post are both out. Curry is probable after logging 26 minutes on Sunday in his first game back from a 27-game layoff.
If Porzingis can’t go, Golden State’s frontcourt becomes alarmingly thin. Malevy Leons and Charles Bassey suddenly become central figures, not just spot-minute options. Draymond Green will have to slide into heavier forward duty, anchoring lineups that stretch his responsibilities even more.
Bassey at least offered a hint of reliability in his debut. Against Houston, he chipped in five points, four rebounds, and two blocks in limited minutes, flashing timing and physicality around the rim. Tuesday becomes another audition — not in theory, but in real minutes that matter for how Kerr shapes his rotation next week.
What It Means as the Play-In Looms
With four games left before the play-in, the Warriors are not chasing the standings. The gap to the ninth-seeded Los Angeles Clippers is too wide to realistically bridge. The race now is internal.
This stretch is about habits. Lineup combinations. Getting Curry’s legs back under him. Sharpening the pieces that will share the floor when the season is on the line.
That’s why Santos’ absence cuts deeper than his box-score averages. He’s the forward who most naturally fits next to Curry in the lineups Kerr trusts — the ones that switch, run, and space the floor the way Golden State wants to play when everything is on the line. Every game he misses is one fewer rep for those groups.
Without him, Nate Williams and Leons will soak up the forward minutes. The Warriors will lean hard into three- and four-guard looks, a style that might hold up against Sacramento’s pace and spacing but is far less likely to survive the physicality and matchup hunting that comes with a one-and-done play-in battle.
Survive Tuesday, Chase Thursday
The good news for Golden State: Santos is not expected to be out long. The play-in is still a week away, and the expectation is that he’ll be ready when the stakes spike.
So Tuesday becomes something simpler, and harsher: get through it. Get Curry more minutes. Get the rotations as close to playoff-ready as the bodies will allow.
The real test doesn’t arrive against the Kings. It hits next week, when there are no more tune-ups, no more experiments, and no safety net for a team still trying to look like itself.
