The Warriors were dealt an unfortunate blow for the stretch run of the 2024-25 NBA regular season.
Veteran guard/forward Gary Payton II suffered a partial tear of a ligament in his left thumb in Tuesday's loss to the Miami Heat, the team announced on Thursday after ESPN's Shams Charania first reported the news.
The Warriors also announced Payton will not play in Friday's game against the New Orleans Pelicans and will be re-evaluated in one week.
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Payton is an integral player in coach Steve Kerr's rotations, and in 58 games this season, is averaging 6.6 points, 3 rebounds and 1.3 assists per game on 58.5-percent shooting from the field and 33 percent from 3-point range in 14.9 minutes off the bench.
The 32-year-old recently suffered a non-displaced nose fracture in the Warriors' win over the Charlotte Hornets on March 3 and has played with a mask for the previous nine games he was active before his thumb injury.
While Payton was able to play through the nose injury, the Warriors will be without him for most, if not all, of their final 10 games of the regular season.
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