Warriors' Brandon Williams avoids structural damage to hamstring, source says

Golden State Warriors guard Brandon Williams (12) takes possession of the ball against Miami Heat guard Ryan Conwell (4) in the third quarter Thursday at Chase Center in San Francisco. (Yalonda M. James/S.F. Chronicle) The Warriors, it appears, have avoided the worst-case scenario with their off-the-bench sparkplug.An MRI revealed that Golden State guard Brandon Williams, who injured his left hamstring in Monday night's win over the New Orleans Pelicans, suffered no tears or structural damage to it, a source close to Williams told the Chronicle Tuesday. Williams won't need surgery, the source said.If Williams has, indeed, dodged any kind of long-term absence, that'd mean a sigh of relief for Golden State. Williams played just two minutes Monday night against New Orleans, exiting after a couple first-quarter layups and not returning to the bench at all the rest of the night. After the game - and before Williams' MRI - Kerr called the injury a "big concern.""He's a huge part of our team, and he's giving us such a lift," Kerr said.Williams has injected Golden State's non-Stephen Curry units with a blend of off-the-dribble creation and rim pressure it has rarely had across the last few seasons. The jumper has been shaky - Williams is shooting 41% from the floor and 30% from three through 10 games - but the 2026 free-agent signee is averaging 10.4 points in 16.1 minutes per game.Williams, too, currently sits at 13th in the NBA in free-throw attempts per-36 minutes, at 8.0.The Warriors are suddenly dealing with a mild rash of depth injuries, an outcome this team - already missing a boatload of minutes with Jimmy Butler and Moses Moody still rehabbing knee injuries - can hardly afford. Second-year wing Will Richard may face upwards of a month of missed time if he decided to get surgery on a torn ulnar collateral ligament (UCL) in his left thumb, and 33-year-old Gary Payton II was scratched from Monday night's game with left knee inflammation.Kerr subbed in two-way guard LJ Cryer for long stretches Monday night in place of Williams' normal minutes. Cryer held his own against a sleepwalking Pelicans team, with 10 points on 4-of-9 shooting in 20 minutes.Golden State will also need to get Gui Santos back to full strength, as the forward has been battling knee tendinitis for much of this season. Santos scored just three points while ramping up to 21 minutes against the Pelicans, chipping in seven rebounds and four assists.Santos's knee tendinitis is a matter of balancing rest and workload, and not any actual tangible repair; a source previously told the Chronicle that an MRI on Santos' knee showed no structural damage. He first aggravated the knee in Golden State's third game of the season Oct. 24, in Phoenix."We're going to need him, for sure," Kerr said pregame Monday. "So, we gotta find enough healthy bodies here over the next couple weeks, if Will's going to be out."SubscribeThere’s more to San Francisco with the Chronicle. Subscribe today for just 25¢.This article originally published at Warriors' Brandon Williams avoids structural damage to hamstring, source says.