Golden State Warriors head coach Steve Kerr expects Klay Thompson to play in Game 4 on Friday, he told The Athletic's Tim Kawakami.
Thompson was a last-minute scratch after originally being placed on the active roster for Game 3 as he battles a hamstring injury suffered in Toronto.
Kerr was adamant pregame that Thompson wouldn't play Wednesday if doing so could could worsen his injury. The Warriors bench boss stood by the team's decision despite the loss.
"I never would have forgiven myself if (Klay) played and got hurt," Kerr told reporters postgame, including NBC Sports' Tom Haberstroh.
Golden State forward Draymond Green agreed with how the club handled Thompson and dismissed the notion that the team threw away a game just to get him at full strength.
"You don't sacrifice a Finals game to be healthy for the next one, because anything can happen," Green told reporters, including Ben Golliver of The Washington Post. "But at the same time you do have to be smart. We would much rather have Klay for the rest of the series than putting him out there and losing him and then nothing."
Thompson is averaging 19.5 points on 44 percent shooting from the floor across 18 postseason appearances.
The Warriors are already without star forward Kevin Durant (calf) and center Kevon Looney (costal cartilage), with the latter being ruled out for the remainder of series.
Durant's status for Game 4 remains unknown but Kerr hopes to get him involved in some on-court work Thursday.
Toronto leads the best-of-seven series 2-1.
