Preview: Green expected back, Warriors need a win

A motorcycle without rear view mirrors: Golden State can only focus forward

The Golden State Warriors are in one of the easier stretches of their season schedule, but none of that will matter if they can’t win the games they should. On paper, this upcoming stretch of games is one of the easiest on the schedule for Golden State, and yet tonight is the perfect example of why none of that “on paper” stuff matters. Golden State has already lost twice to this Portland Trail Blazers team. The first, a 20-point drubbing in Portland, and then a follow-up second (closer) loss about a month ago in Chase Center.

The good news is that it seems as if Draymond Green will be back. He’s not listed at all on the team’s injury report, so should be playing his first game back since injuring his foot on December 4th. He was reportedly Questionably ready for Friday’s game against the Minnesota Timberwolves so it sounds as if he’ll be fully cleared today.

With Just Al Horford remaining on the injury list, the Warriors are as close to full health as they’ve been all season.

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GAME DETAILS

WHO: Golden State Warriors (13-13) at Portland Trail Blazers (9-16)

WHEN: Sunday, December 14th, 2025; 6pm PST

WATCH: NBCSBA

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Who’s not playing?

I bought that new motorcycle. It’s an incredible machine. Pretty to look at and with more power than I’ll ever need, the guy who owned it before me put a lot of work into this thing, prepping it to be his track bike. Plans changed and now it’s mine and is destined for a boring non-track life. But one thing that sticks out to me as a parallel with where the Warriors are at right now is that the bike didn’t come with any sort of rear view mirrors. I get it, look ahead not behind and all that, but it’s a psycho way to drive around. Oddly, the Warriors need to play with that sort of psychosis. No time to worry about what hasn’t worked, or what else is going on, just pure, unadulterated focus on nothing but what’s in front of you.

Outside of the two games the Blazers and Warriors have played each other, Portland would be sitting at 7-16 on the season. This is a game that Golden State has to win. No, not really. Nothing calamitous will immediately happen if they don’t, but with both Green, Curry, and Butler finally all available - combined with De’Anthony Melton and Seth Curry - this is the roster built over the off-season (minus Horford).

Whether it’s due to matchup-specific considerations, ongoing adjustments to rotations to accommodate shifting player availability, or just the lack of a viable best plan, the Warriors have tried a bunch of different lineup combinations. Which also means they’ve run through a bunch of options regarding who wouldn’t play on any given night.

In the previous game, the list of DNP-Coach’s decision included not just Kuminga, but also Will Richard and Seth Curry. Now, to be clear, this is going to be akin to tinkering more than a teardown, but looking at the gameflow during that disastrous late 3rd to early 4th, the bulk of the minutes were associated with a mostly-bench lineup; an odd choice against a team that plays as big across the board as the Timberwolves do - Podz, Spencer, Moody, with Butler and Post.

You can see the balance Kerr is trying to achieve here, and those new minutes for Melton have to come from somewhere, but unless Podz can be more impactful, the Warriors may not want the offense he generates.

So here comes the healthy core. And for the first time in a while, the picture is at least coming into focus. Health doesn’t solve everything, but it removes excuses - and more importantly, it gives the coaching staff a stable foundation to build from. With roles no longer changing night-to-night, the Warriors finally have the chance to evaluate what actually works, rather than what merely survives.

Still no Horford, but the core three plus (let’s assume) Melton pencilled into the closing lineup sets the team up for success. It wasn’t talked about much because the effort ultimately failed, but Golden State ended that last game on a 21-6 run; it just wasn’t enough to make up for the 17-to-nothing failure that the Warriors opened the quarter with. In other words, the team still doesn’t have a great answer for how to survive the minutes without Curry.

Thankfully, this isn’t a need for another star. The Warriors just need to figure out how to bridge that time period. Maybe it’s a defense-first crew that excludes Podz in favor of Will Richard, or maybe a player like Seth Curry who is less prone to mistake could be the answer? One way or another, the sense of frustration and growing unease is palpable. Golden State knows that current results are just not adequate. Curry came back off the bench at around the 7 minute mark in the fourth quarter, but that extended slide was too much to recover from. Even Curry miracles eventually hit a limit (it’s rare, but happens).

Will Kerr have a quicker Still, this is the part of the season where experience has a way of mattering. Few teams in the league are better equipped to diagnose their own flaws on the fly than a veteran core led by Curry, Green, and Kerr. They’ve been through stretches like this before - where the margin for error felt razor-thin - and more often than not, those moments became the catalyst rather than the conclusion.

When that second group stagnates? Will he try someone like Curry (who sacrifices creation off the dribble) or Will Richard as a hustle addition? With just about a month left before Kuminga becomes trade eligible, it’s still too early to lean into whatever comes after the trade season, right now, Golden State just needs to tinker; standing there with your arms folded while the game melts away doesn’t seem to be a viable strategy. I’d expect to see some more reactive rotation changes, and hopefully a better result.

The elephant in the room is Jimmy Butler. Butler is making $54.13 million this season. At that price point, he should be able to carry a practice roster to victory. He was brought in to replace Andrew Wiggins especially because of Butler’s secret sauce ability to win. Butler needs to do more too.

None of this guarantees an immediate turnaround, but it does point toward a path forward. The Warriors don’t need reinvention - they need refinement. With health finally on their side and urgency setting in, this stretch becomes less about survival and more about reasserting who they are. The margin is thin, but the opportunity is very real.

Prediction

Warriors win, to finally defeat the mighty Blazers this season. Curry goes off, and Green and Butler control the rest of the floor. Also, I predict I’ll go to the motorcycle store to buy some mirrors for my new bike.