Adding to the Warriors’ recent injury woes, forward Eric Paschall is out for Thursday night’s game against the Mavericks with right knee soreness.

Paschall, who the Warriors had planned to use at center in Dallas with Kevon Looney (left ankle sprain) and James Wiseman (left wrist sprain) sidelined, woke up Thursday morning with swelling in his knee. An MRI came back clean, and Paschall is considered day-to-day.

Kerr said there was no prior indication of the injury and the swelling, “caught everybody off guard.”

“Everything’s fine,” Kerr added. “It’s just swollen and he’s in pain.”

In 20 appearances, Paschall averaged 10 points, 2.9 rebounds and 1.4 assists in 17.6 minutes per game.

How we got here: Even with Paschall, the Warriors were facing questions about how they’d handle the center position. Wiseman, the second overall pick in November’s draft, was injured on a dunk attempt in Saturday’s win against the Pistons; Looney suffered his injury when planting his foot in the second quarter of Tuesday’s loss to the Celtics. Two games into the season, center Marquese Chriss suffered a fractured fibula and high ankle sprain during a scrimmage.

What does this mean for the center position? This leaves Golden State in a tough spot at center with the only healthy frontcourt players being 6-foot-6 forwards Draymond Green and two-way contract player Juan Toscano-Anderson. Both will start and see time at center.

In this first of a four-game trip, the Warriors will keep things simple on offense, prioritize playing with pace and defending as a team. On Saturday, the Warriors will again face the Mavericks before heading to San Antonio for a pair of games against the Spurs.

“We need to play fast,” Kerr said. “Instead of using these absences as an excuse, we need to use it to our advantage and play to our strengths.”