Warriors’ Draymond Green and Mavericks’ Luka Doncic uncertain for season openers
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Golden State Warriors Draymond Green (right) watching a pre-season game against the Los Angeles Lakers at Crypto.com arena last Saturday.
PHOTO: REUTERS
SAN FRANCISCO – Draymond Green will miss the remaining two games of the pre-season as he recovers from an ankle sprain, the Golden State Warriors announced on Tuesday, making him a doubt for next week’s National Basketball Association (NBA) regular-season opener.
The 33-year-old is considered “questionable” for the Warriors’ first match of the new campaign against the Phoenix Suns at Chase Centre next Tuesday.
Green has been taking part in shooting drills and other light on-court workouts, but will not return to full team practice yet and will be re-evaluated again on Sunday.
Warriors coach Steve Kerr said after Tuesday’s practice: “I just talked to him and he felt good in his workout today. He’s moving around, he’s doing some drill work on the court and, by the end of the week, hopefully he is playing some three-on-three. We’ll re-evaluate at that point.”
Green is entering his 12th NBA season with a new four-year, US$100 million (S$137.1 million) contract extension. He played 73 games last season, which saw him working through niggling injuries.
Meanwhile, Dallas Mavericks star point guard Luka Doncic’s status is also uncertain for the team’s season-opener in San Antonio’s AT&T Centre against the Spurs next Wednesday.
Doncic injured his calf in training in Madrid during the team’s 12-day overseas trip earlier in October. The four-time All-Star, who averaged a career-best 32.4 points per game last season while also contributing 8.6 rebounds and 8.0 assists in 66 games, underwent an MRI scan after the Mavericks returned to Dallas.
Mavericks coach Jason Kidd said Doncic’s calf strain is minor and will be re-evaluated later this week. This will be the first full season pairing of Doncic and Kyrie Irving, the latter an eight-time All-Star with a 23.4 career scoring average. Irving, who is recovering from a groin injury, averaged 27 points in 20 games with Dallas last season after being acquired from the Brooklyn Nets.
Another player who also has a question mark hanging over his appearance this season is Kevin Porter, who was traded by the Houston Rockets on Tuesday, a day after he declined a plea agreement in a case stemming from an alleged attack on his girlfriend at a New York City hotel in September.
The Rockets shipped the embattled guard to the Oklahoma City Thunder, who are expected to immediately waive Porter. The team also sent two future second-round draft picks to the Thunder in exchange for two-time All-Star guard Victor Oladipo and forward-centre Jeremiah Robinson-Earl.
Prosecutors said on Monday during a hearing in Manhattan that the second-degree assault charge against Porter would be dropped due to “insufficient evidence” that he was responsible for fracturing one of Kysre Gondrezick’s neck vertebrae, as initially presumed and charged by prosecutors during his arraignment.
The New York Post reported prosecutors revealed a review of medical records showed she suffered from a congenital neck issue. Porter was offered a plea deal to lesser charges with the condition that he take part in counselling, but he rejected the offer.
He is next scheduled to appear in court on Nov 27 to face charges of second-degree strangulation and third-degree assault stemming from the alleged incident. REUTERS
