Warriors guard Gary Payton II suffered a partially torn ligament in his left thumb in Golden State’s loss Tuesday in Miami, the team announced Thursday.
Payton, 32, is ruled out for Friday night’s game against New Orleans — the same game head coach Steve Kerr described as the biggest of the year. He’ll be re-evaluated in one week. The Warriors have 10 games left in the regular season.
Payton had been playing arguably his best, most consistent basketball since the 2022 season leading up to the injury. He made himself a cog in Golden State’s rotation with his solid two-way play and ability to work well next to Steph Curry, who may return Friday from a pelvic contusion that has kept him out for a week.
Since returning with a facemask after suffering a fractured bone in his nose, Payton has averaged 11.3 points and 1.3 steals in 21.9 minutes over his last nine games. In that span, he has shot 54.5% from behind the 3-point arc.
Payton’s absence may open up more playing time for Gui Santos and Jonathan Kuminga, who has had ups and downs since returning from the severe ankle sprain that sidelined him for two months.
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The Clippers leapfrogged the Warriors into sixth place in the West standings by beating the Knicks Wednesday night. Both teams have a 41-31 record, but Los Angeles holds the head-to-head tiebreaker.
Golden State has stated its goal as avoiding the play-in round, where the team is 0-3 historically. The winner of the No. 7-vs.-No. 8 round plays the second seed in the first round, and the second team to advance out of the play-in will face Oklahoma City, who has run away with the top seed in the West.
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