Warriors fans rocked by major Brandin Podziemski news ahead of Game 2

Fans of the Golden State Warriors are looking forward to another road win over the Houston Rockets in Game 2. But, just hours before tip-off, this fan base has been rocked by a major development concerning one of the Warriors’ up-and-coming guards.

According to Warriors beat writer Anthony Slater, Brandin Podziemski’s availability is now in jeopardy:

“Brandin Podziemski is now questionable tonight for Game 2 vs Rockets with an illness. He was spotted at morning shootaround sitting off to the side,” Slater tweeted.

Slater’s update led to vehement reactions from Warriors fans:

“Houston really poisoned this dude wtf,” one fan tweeted.

“Yeah this a L. Houston spiking food,” another fan echoed.

“Adam silver really poisoned his food to make this series longer then 4-5 games to milk profit smh,” another fan speculated.

“Oh no, one of our best rebounders is out against the best rebounding team in the league,” another fan noted.

Indeed, Podziemski was the fourth-best rebounder on the Warriors roster in the regular season, contributing 5.1 rebounds per outing. In the Warriors’ 95-85 win over the Rockets in Game 1, Podz led the way in the rebounding category with eight boards, which he chipped in along with 14 points and five assists.

Meanwhile, other fans made a strong push for Warriors head coach Steve Kerr to redirect Podziemski’s minutes to one particular player:

“If Kerr don’t play kuminga we losing,” one fan insisted.

“Perfect time to give JK meaningful minutes. He is needed for a deep run,” another fan said.

Kuminga was a DNP in Game 1, but if these fans had their way, the one-time NBA champion would be getting some or perhaps even all of the minutes of the ailing Podziemski.

Warriors head coach on playing time of star player: “Thought I made a mistake”

Clearly, coaches of playoff teams have huge decisions to make when it comes to the playing time of their key rotation players. During a media availability on Tuesday, Kerr admitted that he may have made a miscalculation when it comes to minutes of a certain star:

“I thought where I made a mistake, honestly…we were rolling in the third quarter, and I kept Jimmy [Butler] out there because we’re rolling,” Kerr told reporters. “I thought I played him too much in the second half.”

Notably, the Warriors ended up losing that third quarter 26-22 to the Rockets. Butler ended up playing 42 minutes and logging 25 points, seven rebounds, and six assists to help Golden State’s cause.