NEW ORLEANS — Klay Thompson and Jonathan Kuminga will be out for the Warriors’ game against the New Orleans Pelicans on Monday night.
Thompson, 33, is nursing right knee soreness and Kuminga, 21, has a right knee contusion. Golden State is on the second half of their first back-to-back of the year, getting a win against the Houston Rockets on Sunday to move to 2-1.
Moses Moody will make his 15th career start in place of Thompson alongside Steph Curry, Andrew Wiggins, Draymond Green and Kevon Looney. Chris Paul will come off the bench for a second straight game; his consecutive games started streak of 1,365 was snapped against the Rockets when he came off the bench for the first time in his 19-year NBA career in the Warriors’ win.
The plan is to continue with Paul starting bench in the near future, coach Steve Kerr said after Sunday’s game. It’s also the Warriors’ plan to play their veterans for a majority of their back-to-backs going forward, breaking away from last season’s trend of letting their older players sit out for one half of it to rest. Golden State has a league-leading 15 back-to-backs this year, including an upcoming one in Cleveland and Detroit.
Kuminga was listed on the injury report on Sunday with foot soreness, but scored nine points in 19 minutes. Thompson scored 19 points with five 3-pointers against Houston.