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Senior NBA Insider- Shams Charania is a senior NBA insider for ESPN. Charania reports NBA news and information across ESPN platforms and also contributes to ESPN's exclusive coverage of the NBA draft. Charania has previously worked for FanDuel TV, Stadium, The Athletic, Yahoo Sports, RealGM and ChicagoNow. He is a Chicago native and graduated from Loyola University in 2017.
SAN FRANCISCO -- The Golden State Warriors were without Stephen Curry, Jimmy Butler and Draymond Green for their 131-94 loss at home on Friday against the Oklahoma City Thunder.
Green rested and Curry tweaked his left ankle late in the team's Wednesday afternoon win in Charlotte. Butler wasn't initially listed on the injury report but popped up on Friday because of an illness.
Jonathan Kuminga was also ruled out ahead of the loss because of lower back soreness.
Friday was the front side of a home back-to-back for the Warriors after returning from a road trip to Toronto, Brooklyn and Charlotte. They face the Jazz on Saturday night. They are hopeful all three will be available against Utah.
The Friday night game against the Thunder was on Prime Video. The NBA recently implemented player participation policy for its stars on nationally televised games. Butler and Curry have been All-Stars in the previous three seasons, so they qualify, meaning the league could fine them $100,000 if they deem their absences illegitimate.
Curry called his ankle twist against the Hornets a "little blast from the past" but said he would be all right. He has had infamous ankle issues in the past. The team said Butler woke up Friday morning feeling under the weather.