PORTLAND, Ore. — Golden State Warriors swingman Andre Iguodala injured his left calf in Saturday night’s 110-99 Game 3 win over the Portland Trail Blazers, and he will have an MRI on Sunday.
“He was sore,” Warriors head coach Steve Kerr said after Iguodala played just 17 minutes, 33 seconds in Game 3. “Lower leg, just had some soreness. He’s going to get an MRI [Sunday]. We didn’t want to risk anything and put him back in the game. So, when we took him out mid-third, trainer said that’ll be it for him. We’ll know more [Sunday].”
Iguodala initially left the game in the first quarter to be checked out, but returned to action, before being taken out for good in the third quarter. Kerr was able to give Warriors backup swingman Alfonzo McKinnie some of Iguodala’s minutes and McKinnie responded by finishing the game with a +24 plus/minus.
For his part, Iguodala didn’t seem overly concerned about the injury as he left Moda Center late Saturday night. He was walking a little stiffly but was laughing and joking with friends on his way out of the building.
Iguodala, who is averaging 30.2 minutes a game in the postseason, has been one of the Warriors’ most consistent players in the playoffs averaging 10.6 points, 4.2 rebounds and 4.1 assists a game. His recent performance is even more impressive given the defensive matchups he has been given throughout the postseason and the fact he was averaging just 23.2 minutes in the regular season as Kerr tried to manage his minutes so he would be fresh for the playoffs.
If the Warriors are able to close out the Blazers in Game 4 of the Western Conference finals on Monday night, Iguodala would have nine full days of rest prior to Game 1 of the NBA Finals on May 30th. It’s a break that would also help Kevin Durant (calf) and DeMarcus Cousins (quad) continue to rehab as they try to make their way back to the floor.
Kerr brushed off the idea of the potential break, preferring to keep the focus on trying to close out the Blazers on Monday night.
“We won’t talk about anything other than Game 4,” Kerr said. “What’s after that doesn’t matter, maybe game 5, maybe game 6. So we just focus on the next game ahead of us. We’ve got some guy’s banged up, but we’ve done a really good job. I’m really proud of this group for playing through a number of injuries we’ve had. … It’s a remarkable group to continue to press and play at this level without so many key guys so I’m very proud of them.”