Nine Warriors Rest, Tired Blazers Get the Kids at Portland

0:04The host: Nine players on this roster are tagged day-to-day for rest tonight: Horford, Curry, Green, Podziemski, Melton, Santos, Niang, Payton, Lendeborg. Every single one has the same return date, October 10th.

0:18The analyst: Nine guys, one date, the Kings game. That's not nine separate dings, that's a plan. None of them play tonight at Portland.

0:26The host: Which answers what I got asked all morning: is this team secretly banged up? No. Horford's 40. Curry's 38. Butler's 37. This is just managing old legs into the opener.

0:38The analyst: Butler and Moody are the real injuries, knee, both of them. Butler's out till January, Moody till December. Everyone else on that list is back Saturday.

0:47The host: So who's actually in uniform tonight? Porziņģis, plus the kids: Toohey, Terry, Bassey, Ike, Cryer, Leons, Kelly, Richard, Brandon Williams.

0:57The analyst: That's basically our two-way group and the rookies against an NBA roster. Different kind of test than game one.

1:04The host: Which brings back what we said last time. We wanted to see Bassey's bump hold once Porziņģis was back on the floor next to him.

1:11The analyst: And Porziņģis isn't even on tonight's injury page, he's clear. But half the vets around him are sitting, so that's not the test we get tonight.

1:20The host: So what's the number tonight?

1:22The analyst: Fourteen. Nate Williams is playing fourteen more minutes a night than his average over the last three games, with a teammate out.

1:30The host: Fourteen minutes is basically a whole bench rotation sliding his way.

1:35The analyst: Three games. One teammate out. That evaporates the day that guy's back. I'm not calling it a role yet.

1:42The host: Worth watching regardless. If that holds past the vets coming back, that's a real two-way success story.

1:48The analyst: One thing at a time. Teammate comes back Saturday, we'll know fast.

1:52The host: Portland's also 0-0, but look at their spot tonight: second night of a back-to-back, second straight game on the road, zero rest days. We're sitting on one day of rest ourselves, nothing like that stack.

2:06The analyst: And last year that team finished 42-40, net rating of minus 0.4. League average, basically. Nothing scary on paper there.

2:16The host: Shaedon Sharpe's out though, knee. He was their 20.8 points a game guy last season, their best shot creator.

2:23The analyst: With him out, that offense runs through Deni Avdija and Jrue Holiday. Avdija was at 24.2 points a game last season, Holiday at 6.1 assists.

2:34The host: And Donovan Clingan underneath, 11.6 rebounds a game last year. That's the matchup for our bigs, Bassey and Ike against him tonight.

2:43The analyst: Tired legs, no Sharpe, second preseason game in two nights. If our kids can't move the ball against that front, that's the real worry tonight, not the scoreboard.

2:53The host: Don't forget what we just did to the Lakers one night ago: led by 38, final was 124-98.

3:00The analyst: Quarter by quarter we buried them: 45 in the first, 36 in the second, before easing off late.

3:06The host: Bench outscored the starters, 56 to 59, basically a wash. Curry played fourteen minutes and finished plus 26.

3:15The analyst: Podziemski had 16 on seven of eleven shooting. Lendeborg had 17 and 9 boards in 21 minutes.

3:22The host: That's close to the same group suiting up again tonight, and ball's up at Portland in two hours, NBA TV.

3:29The analyst: HoopsRumors also has a Pacific Notes piece out today with Porziņģis and Horford both in the headline.

3:36The host: What's actually in it?

3:38The analyst: Just the headline so far. Nothing reported beyond their names being attached to it.

3:43The host: Horford and Porziņģis together in a headline, nothing else. We'll flag it if anything real comes out of it.

3:50The analyst: The verdict: nine regulars resting against a tired Portland team makes tonight close to meaningless on the scoreboard.

3:57The host: Counter: not meaningless for the kids. Toohey, Terry, Bassey, Ike, they get real minutes against an NBA defense tonight, and that tells us something.

4:07The host: Watch how Bassey and Williams split those extra minutes against a Blazers team running on empty. Section's live all season at Hoops Nightly, on the Warriors page. See you after the horn.