The San Antonio Spurs and Golden State Warriors are expected to be missing some serious star power when they tip off a home-and-home series Saturday night in San Francisco.
Spurs standout rookie Victor Wembanyama and Warriors superstar Stephen Curry both suffered right-ankle injuries this week, and both will likely miss the opener of the two-game set.
Wembanyama's mishap occurred Tuesday against the Houston Rockets. He was sent back to San Antonio for further examination and missed Thursday's 131-129 loss at Sacramento.
The loss was the Spurs' seventh straight this season with Wembanyama out of the lineup. Four of those defeats have been by six or fewer points.
San Antonio nonetheless had a chance to shock the Kings on the road, but Devin Vassell missed a buzzer-beating 3-pointer at the end of a 30-point night.
Vassell had 24 points and Wembanyama 22 when the Spurs were beaten 118-112 in San Francisco in the NBA in-season tournament in November. Wembanyama and Keldon Johnson couldn't connect on late 3-pointers that could have been difference-makers in that one.
Malaki Branham had 23 points, while Johnson and Zach Collins added 22 apiece in the Sacramento loss as the Spurs attempted to replace quality with quantity.
Spurs coach Gregg Popovich assured the decision to send Wembanyama home was made by the organization, not the Rookie of the Year favorite, who initially played through the pain to complete a 31-minute effort in Houston.
"He didn't say a whole lot, so we didn't realize that he was hampered at the time," Popovich said of the second-quarter misstep. "When you looked at the film after, you could see that he wasn't moving very well. So he's taking care of it now."
The Warriors wasted no time sending Curry to the locker room after he turned his ankle on a drive to the hoop late in Thursday's 125-122 home loss to the Chicago Bulls.
Golden State was outscored 14-8 over the final 3:51 after Curry left the floor.
The 10-time All-Star was scheduled for an MRI on Friday, with the team expecting him to miss some time regardless of the result.
The Warriors and Spurs meet in a rematch Monday night in San Antonio, with the Spurs hoping Wembanyama will be healthy enough to return. Golden State players were less optimistic after their loss Thursday.
"I know we're going to miss him," Klay Thompson said of Curry. "We've been in this position before where he has had time off and we have to do it collectively."
The Warriors' losses without Curry this season have been 104-101 to the Minnesota Timberwolves and 128-109 to the Oklahoma City Thunder in consecutive home games in November, then 129-118 at Milwaukee in January.
Thompson had 21 points despite missing 16 of 23 shots in the loss to the Bucks, after a pair of nightmarish games in Curry's first two absences.
He was ejected for scuffling with Jaden McDaniels 1:43 into the loss to Minnesota, going scoreless, before shooting just 1-for-10 and totaling five points two nights later against Oklahoma City.
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