NBA-National Basketball Association roundup

Oct 11 (The Sports Xchange) - Golden State Warriors coach Steve Kerr said Sunday his leave of absence was prompted by a spinal fluid leak. Kerr had back surgery July 28 and a subsequent operation. "I had a spinal fluid leak during the first surgery," he said Sunday at the Warriors' practice facility. "It's very rare, it does happen occasionally, but it happens when there's an accidental nick of the dura that surrounds the spinal cord. But I lost spinal fluid, took about a month to figure out what was going on, a lot of headaches, some other symptoms." Kerr had surgery Sept. 4 to repair the issue. Kerr appointed Luke Walton as interim coach and said he is not sure when he will return. He met with the media Sunday to erase any "gray area" and end questions about the cause of his absence. - - - Los Angeles Clippers point guard Chris Paul suffered a fractured left index finger in practice Saturday, but he is not expected to miss extended time. The Clippers are currently playing their preseason games in Shanghai, China. Paul missed Sunday's game against the Charlotte Hornets. Paul will have the injury re-evaluated before Wednesday's game against the Hornets. The eight-times All-Star averaged 19.1 points, 10.2 assists and 1.9 steals per game in 2014-15. Clippers guard Austin Rivers also suffered an injury on the team's overseas trip, sustaining a mouth injury during practice Friday. Rivers got hit by an elbow in the mouth and had several teeth knocked out. He is listed day-to-day. - - - The Denver Nuggets exercised the third-year options on guard Gary Harris and center Jusuf Nurkic for the 2016-17 season. Harris, the 19th overall pick of the 2014 NBA draft, averaged 3.4 points and 1.2 rebounds in 13.1 minutes per game as a rookie in 2014-15. Nurkic, the 16th overall pick of the 2014 draft, averaged 6.9 points, 6.2 rebounds and 1.10 blocks in 17.8 minutes per game as a rookie. (Editing by Andrew Both)