Draymond Green 'afraid' about seriousness of calf injury

Draymond Green will miss his second consecutive game with calf tightness when the Warriors (12-8) host the red-hot Rockets (15-7) on Thursday night. However, the Warriors could be without their defensive anchor and emotional leader for an extended stretch.

On the latest "The Draymond Green Show," the Warriors star said he was "a little bit afraid" about the nature of his calf issue, especially since a similar soft tissue injury forced him to miss three months in the 2021-22 season.

"I'll be 100 percent honest, I'm a little bit afraid," Green said of his injury. "But, in saying that, I have confidence in our staff, and I have confidence in that I'm getting ahead of it [the injury] right now because the smart thing to do is to catch it right now while I'm already getting these symptoms."

Green revealed that when he felt similar symptoms in the 2021-22 season, he played through them, which led to him aggravating the injury. This time around, he plans to be a lot more cautious, even if that means sitting out for an extended period to get his calf treated. 

The Warriors look like a hapless unit on both ends of the floor, specifically on defense, without Green. During Tuesday's loss in Denver, Green's absence was sorely felt in the clutch as the Warriors committed crucial turnovers on offense and couldn't stop the bleeding on defense.

Warriors head coach Steve Kerr sounded optimistic about Green's injury ahead of Thursday's game. 

"He's doing well," Kerr said of Green, via ESPN's Ohm Youngmisuk. "But all in all, I talked to him yesterday, he said he is feeling pretty good. My gut is that it is not going to be a super long-term issue. But we'll have to see what our training staff says tomorrow."

Stephen Curry is also set to miss Thursday's game versus the Rockets, as the sharpshooter is being held out due to injury/load management. The Warriors are trying to snap their five-game losing streak after suffering defeats to the Spurs, Nets, Thunder, Suns and Nuggets over the last two weeks.