Still no timetable for David Lee's return
The Golden State Warriors still don't know when they'll be getting starting power forward David Lee back from a strained left hamstring.
Lee missed the team's first three games of the season after injuring the hamstring during the preseason, and made a short-lived season debut on Nov. 5. He re-aggravated the injury after playing only seven minutes, and hasn't suited up since.
Lee progressed to full-court drills on Wednesday, but the team hasn't released a complete re-evaluation of his condition, and his timetable remains uncertain, according to Rusty Simmons of the San Francisco Chronicle.
Not that the Warriors have been suffering too badly without him. At 8-2, they sit second in the Western Conference, and their plus-10.3 point differential is just a hair behind the Dallas Mavericks' league-best mark (plus-10.4).
The Warriors are probably a better defensive team without Lee, as the active and physical Draymond Green has been filling in at power forward, and the team boasts the league's second-best defensive rating (95.5). But the Warriors also wouldn't mind having Lee's passing and scoring prowess in the post to help vary their already potent offensive attack.
"We miss his scoring. We miss him being a low-post threat. We’re different without him," head coach Steve Kerr said. "Fortunately, we’ve been able to win, and Draymond and Harrison (Barnes) have each given us a different look at the four. That’s helped us develop a different dynamic - sort of a space-and-stretch team - but it will be great to have David back with the rebounding, low-post scoring and passing."
Warriors guard Stephen Curry doesn't envision the team needing to make any major adjustments once Lee is ready to return.
"The offense is really predicated on ball movement and spacing, and you have to have chemistry to move bodies," Curry said. "(Lee’s) skill set will take over once he has the ball in his hands, with which reads he should make and how to put pressure on the defense. There are no play calls that we’re making that he can’t fit into."
Kerr added that he hasn’t given much thought to how he’ll use Lee. He doesn’t know when Lee will be allowed to play, or to what extent his minutes will need to be restricted, once he gets the green light.