The MRI on Warriors guard Kelenna Azubuike’s left ankle showed nothing more serious than a bone bruise, and he’s considered day-to-day by the team, which will try to break a seven-game losing streak in Houston on Friday.

“I don’t think he could play tomorrow,” Warriors coach Don Nelson said Wednesday, but Azubuike’s availability Friday has not yet been ruled out.

Meanwhile, Stephen Jackson’s swollen left hand is not progressing very quickly. The captain originally hurt his hand against Boston on Nov. 26 when his fingers got caught and bent backwards by the jersey of a Celtics player who was setting a screen. The injury was exacerbated when he tried to reach in for a steal against Cleveland center Zydrunas Ilgauskas on Friday.

Jackson did not play Saturday in New York and came back Monday against Miami, but went 2-for-11 on the night.

“The swelling hasn’t gone down,” said Jackson, who has been wearing a brace that binds his middle and ring fingers together. “It’s still pretty bad, but I’ve got to find a way to get through it. I went through all last game without getting hit on it. It’s all about not getting hit on it and try to brace the pain.”

Jackson said the injury effects him most when he’s dribbling, since he uses his left hand to initiate many of his offensive moves.

“It’s throwing off my ballhandling a little bit, but today at practice it was a little better, so hopefully day by day, it gets better and not worse,” Jackson said.

– Geoff

By Geoff Lepper
48minutes.net

When the Golden State Warriors put together Stephen Jackson with Matt Barnes and Baron Davis almost two years ago, skeptics wondered how long it would take before three players with those kind of combustible on-court personalities totally lost it in an emotional outburst.

As it turned out, the triumvirate worked surprisingly well. Certainly, there were hiccups in the playoffs — the ejections in Dallas, the bitter ending in Salt Lake City — but in general, when one of the three started to have his blood boil because of a blown call or a cheap shot, the other two were there to turn that fire into constructive motivation, rather than destructive rage.

Sixteen games into the 2008-09 Warriors season, it’s becoming clear: Jackson needs an equal to provide him the leadership he’s being asked to give the rest of the team. There is no calming factor in place when Jackson starts to get his dander up, and that helps neither him nor the Warriors.

Without someone to talk in Jackson’s ear and focus his indignation, it seems like whenever he feels wronged by the referees, the next possession is practically guaranteed to come down to him going mano y mano, as if to say to the officiating crew, “You think I didn’t get fouled last time? How about now?”

The Warriors’ 112-97 loss to the Cleveland Cavaliers on Friday gave us yet another example.

With the Warriors holding a 38-34 lead, Jackson dribbled into traffic, created contact but didn’t get a call. The next time down the floor, Jackson went on what I described in my notes as “a frustration drive,” although this time it worked out in his favor, with a foul called on Anderson Varejao.

It didn’t stop there. Jackson dominated the next possession, posting up Mo Williams and drawing another foul. The next time down, he posted up but found Corey Maggette for a 3-pointer. (Maggette promptly airballed it, but that’s a whole other topic.)

Finally, Jackson posted up Daniel Gibson and, while working with his back to the basket, had the ball stolen by LeBron James, who went coast-to-coast for the dunk.

After Andris Biedrins missed in the lane, Jackson deliberately hacked James. Then he yapped at a referee (I believe it was Tom Washington, but can’t be sure) on his way to the bench after being pulled for Jamal Crawford.

I can empathize with Jackson’s frustration. I don’t think this isn’t just about…