LOS ANGELES — Golden State Warriors swingman Moses Moody will be held out of the rest of the team’s preseason games because of a calf strain, but the Warriors are optimistic he will be ready for the season opener against the Los Angeles Lakers on Oct. 21.

Moody had an MRI on his left calf Saturday, which revealed the strain, a decision the Warriors felt was precautionary after he tweaked the calf in practice.

We’ll re-evaluate in a week or so,” Warriors coach Steve Kerr said before Sunday’s game against the Lakers. “We’re not too concerned about it, it’s just we’re being careful with it.”

Warriors star guard Stephen Curry (rest) also sat out of Sunday’s game but is expected to play in Tuesday’s preseason game against the Portland Trail Blazers. Same goes for veteran big man Al Horford (rest). Jimmy Butler III, excused for personal reasons, also did not play Sunday but is expected to play Tuesday.

Kerr said after Sunday’s game that Draymond Green (rest) will not play Tuesday night in Portland. The Warriors’ final preseason game is Friday at home against the LA Clippers.

“That’s the goal, that’s the job this year is to manage,” Kerr said of trying to balance finding a rhythm while trying to get his veteran players some rest along the way. “Especially those four (Curry, Butler III, Horford and Green). Manage their minutes, games played, figuring out combinations if a couple of them can’t play. If we’re in a back-to-back, if we need to rest a couple, we got to figure all that stuff out. That’s the job, and we collaborate with them, with the performance staff, and we go from there.”

Third-year guard Brandin Podziemski tried to pick up the slack in Sunday night’s 126-116 loss to the Lakers, scoring 23 points, dishing out eight assists and pulling down five rebounds in 26 minutes. Given Moody’s short-term absence, Kerr was asked whether Podziemski, who started in the last two preseason games, would be penciled into the starting lineup in the first regular-season game.

“I can’t say that yet,” Kerr said after Sunday’s game. “We’ve got to see where we are. Brandin (Podziemski) is going to play a ton. He’s a hugely important player for us. But the starting lineup, frankly, is a little tricky for us. Just given the pieces, Al’s age. If Al (Horford) were a little younger, he’d be in the starting lineup for sure. But if he’s gonna play limited minutes, it’s tougher to start him and finish the game if he’s not playing as many minutes as he would have a few years ago. So we still have a lot to think about, but Brandin’s gonna be a huge part of it one way or the other.”