"The Warriors can see the end of their woeful injury situation, at least the worst of it.

Even though centers Andris Biedrins and Ronny Turiaf are still about a "week away or so," according to coach Don Nelson, their presence in practice the past couple days has provided the team a sense of relief.

"It was good seeing (Biedrins) get up and run, a little contact," said guard Monta Ellis, who added that he will play tonight against the Memphis Grizzlies despite a contusion on his thigh that kept him out of practice Sunday and Monday. "That's a plus for us. That means he's on the way back. Same for Ronny. We need those two big guys. We're short-handed, and that's going to turn our team around."

Biedrins said he just needs to get a few practices under his belt. He is not expected to play tonight or Wednesday at New Orleans but said he is eyeing Saturday's home game against the Phoenix Suns.

Biedrins hasn't played since Nov. 8 at Sacramento, the fifth game of the season. He was injured against the Grizzlies on Nov. 4, sat out the next game and returned against Sacramento. But he aggravated the injury against the Kings.

Biedrins' injury eventually was diagnosed as osteitis pubis, a strain of the muscles that connect the abdomen and the quadriceps. The Warriors announced the injury would take six weeks to heal, and Monday marked the six-week point of Biedrins' absence. He said he is being extra cautious, because he doesn't want to deal with this injury again.

"It's feeling good," Biedrins said after Sunday's practice. "Conditioning-wise, I'm not bad. I will start slow, maybe 10, 15 minutes a game, and we'll just go from there."

Turiaf hasn't played since Nov. 28 against the Los Angeles Lakers, his first game back after straining his left knee against Phoenix in the second game of the season. "