Why Golden State is sitting Al Horford against the Grizzlies

SAN FRANCISCO– The Golden State Warriors will remain strict in their plan for managing Al Horford’s health in his 19th NBA season. 39-year-old center will not play against Memphis Grizzlies, the front of their upcoming back-to-back, according to the head coach Steve Kerr. Horford will be available the following night against the Los Angeles Clippers, giving him four full days of rest since the Warriors’ overtime win against the Nuggets the previous week.

After practice Sunday morning, Kerr explained some of the reasons for resting Horford against the Grizzlies instead of the Clippers.

“We always take (matches) into consideration. Against Portland (or Denver) it was always a pretty easy choice, facing (Nikola) Jokic,” Kerr told reporters. “I’d say it’s a much tougher decision because Memphis, you know, Jaren Jackson Jr. is obviously a great player. But we decided to play him against the Clippers, (because Ivica) Zubac gave us trouble. That’s a really big team, so we’re going to go with this.”

Against Golden State last season, Zubac was average 17.5 points, 15.8 rebounds and 3.8 assists. The Dubs have struggled to keep the big man off the boards, lacking big-play options to help Draymond Green in the frontcourt. Horford’s presence was absent against the Trail Blazers, as Portland scored a whopping 66 points in the game.

“We’re going to lean on our depth and continue to play people in combinations that we believe in and hopefully use our depth to get through this next back-to-back.”

The Warriors’ plan to only play Horford on one end of back-to-back games will be a plan moving forward, as Kerr has emphasized multiple times this season. It’s the same load management plan the Boston Celtics and Joe Mazzula used with Horford during his time there, and the Dubs will remain strict with that procedure.

On the other end of the Warrior health update, Moses Moody is back in the rotation in Portland. Kerr described Moody’s performance against the Blazers as a game for Moody to “get his feet wet” and find his rhythm again after being sidelined for the past two weeks with a calf injury. Moody told reporters his calf injury was “really minor.”

“There’s no structural damage or anything,” Moody said. “I got an MRI and everything. It really just made it stronger. It was a precaution and yeah, I’m in a good place.”

Moody will certainly be an option for Kerr to start once he is back to full fitness with his defensive and distance abilities. When asked what is more difficult for him to regain his rhythm, shooting or defensive flow, when he returns from injury, Moody emphasized that his role in different compositions.

“I would say it’s a different flow for the different groups you’re on the floor with. So just finding your group and finding your role in that group takes some getting used to,” Moody said. “But defensively, I think it’s pretty self-explanatory. Once you get the rotations down, once you get the principles down, I think it comes back pretty quickly.”

He asked the Warriors’ Moses Moody what’s harder to get back, shooting rhythm or defensive flow, when you’re coming back from injury:
“It’s a different flow for the different groups you’re on the floor with, so just finding your group and finding your role in that group takes some getting used to.” pic.twitter.com/10LjinVVKj
— Kenzo Fukuda (@kenzofuku) October 26, 2025