The Golden State Warriors are set to face the Utah Jazz on Sunday afternoon in the season finale, and Steph Curry has been ruled out. Curry was initially listed as questionable, but the Warriors have updated their injury report and ruled the star point guard out.
Had the Warriors beaten the New Orleans Pelicans on Friday, then it seems likely that Curry would have played in this season finale. Since they need the Los Angeles Lakers and Sacramento Kings to lose in order to secure the 8th seed, the Warriors are prioritizing rest over doing all they can to win this final game.
With how the Utah Jazz are approaching this game, there is certainly a chance the Warriors could win without Curry. Utah has won two-straight games, but is without almost all of their top players.
As previously mentioned, the Warriors can still finish 8th with a win combined with losses from Los Angeles and Sacramento. Had the Warriors defeated the Pelicans, they would have controlled their own destiny for that spot.
Golden State had several opportunities to move up the standings in recent weeks, and while they did well to string together some wins, key losses at the wrong time created this scenario where they are likely to finish 10th. All of this has led to Curry sitting out the season finale.