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Coughing and sniffling through his postgame press conference, Steph Curry sure didn’t look like someone ready to lace his sneakers back up in less than 24 hours.

He’d had a cold for the past few days and it was getting worse, Curry said after the Warriors’ 118-107 win over Phoenix on Tuesday at Chase Center. Despite admitting that the illness affected his play, Curry didn’t rule himself out for the second leg of the team’s back-to-back in Sacramento. As always, it would take a lot for him to sit.

Head coach Steve Kerr quickly slammed the door on any of the two-time MVP’s congested optimism. He made an executive order.

“He’s wiped out right now. I don’t care what the doctors say, we got to get him some rest. I’ll make the decision right now, he’s not going to play tomorrow.”

The Warriors (5-3) will be without Curry and, potentially, star wing Jimmy Butler. Butler played through lower back soreness in the first half before tweaking it and getting ruled out during halftime after 14 minutes.

Regardless of whether Butler is available for the quick turnaround up I-80, Wednesday will be the first time this year the Warriors will be without one of their big three veterans. With all of their back-to-backs, the Warriors generally want to treat their stars with caution, keeping the big picture of the 82-game season in mind when it comes to their health.

Curry, Butler, and Draymond Green have played each of the Warriors’ first eight games — the first seven of which took place over the course of 12 days in five separate cities. The grueling schedule had their legs heavy in Milwaukee and Indiana, where Golden State dropped a pair of winnable games.

“I could tell on the road trip that all three of those guys looked tired,” Kerr said. “I mentioned, very unusual schedule to start the year. None of them had missed a game, and I think they just ran into a little bit of a wall.”

The midwest trip was a “look in the mirror” kind of game, Curry said after the Pacers loss. So the Warriors did just that.

Back in San Francisco, the veteran trio met with Kerr, general manager Mike Dunleavy, and director of sports medicine and performance Rick Celebrini to collaborate. They called a meeting of the minds to discuss how to best navigate difficult pockets of the schedule and evaluate internal health data.

Some conclusions, according to Kerr:

- Not every back-to-back is the same. Some, like this current one with the Kings, don’t involve a flight or a time change.
- Sometimes players are banged up or feeling great, and it’s important to take both scenarios into consideration.
- With three-games-in-four-nights, some situations are even tougher than back-to-backs for vets.
- The league’s player participation policy (opens in new tab) can make it tough to find pockets of the schedule to steal nights off, so the Warriors must still be selective.

The schedule isn’t black and white. Kerr, for instance, highlighted the Oct. 24 Portland game as one he’d like to have back. The night before, the Warriors beat Denver in a thrilling overtime game. The veterans lobbied to play on the second night of a back-to-back, feeling energized at the season’s outset.

Kerr listened, but the stars didn’t have their legs in Portland. A long, athletic Blazers team ran them out of the gym.

Wednesday’s Kings example is an easy decision to rest Curry, as evidenced by Kerr’s postgame declaration. Curry admitted his “tank was on E” in the second half of the Phoenix game. He also said he’d felt symptoms for the past couple days, following the Milwaukee and Indiana games in which he shot a combined 16-for-42 (38.1%) from the field.

It’s clear a night off — and maybe some Nyquil — could only help Curry.

If Golden State is without both Curry and Butler in Golden 1 Center, it will have to feature Jonathan Kuminga more on offense. He was unusually quiet in the second half against Phoenix, as the Warriors’ lead dwindled from more than 20 to single digits. It would’ve been wise for Golden State to run more offense through Kuminga, who matched his season-low of seven field goal attempts despite Butler’s absence.

Brandin Podziemski will likewise get more on-ball reps. Pat Spencer played 11 solid minutes against Phoenix and will receive another nod, as could Will Richard and Gary Payton II — who were DNPs Tuesday night.

“We got a great challenge ahead to try to win a game short-handed,” Kerr said. “I’m excited for all the guys who are going to be playing tomorrow.”

Being extremely depleted against Sacramento puts an even brighter spotlight on the two games the Warriors dropped on the road. The Bucks and Pacers were each shorthanded, and the Western Conference standings seems to be perennially decided by a game or two. Flubbing both at essentially full health puts more stress on the team to steal wins while members of the big three are unavailable.

Last season, the Warriors went 7-5 in games Curry missed. Golden State would probably take that outcome again, but any improvement would be welcomed, too.

“First time doing it this year, but I think we’ll be alright,” said Moses Moody, who scored 24 points off the bench against the Suns.

“We play that way in practice a lot of time, in preseason, this group vs. that group. We’re used to playing with each other a little bit. I think we’ve got all the pieces we need.”