Stephen Curry’s heroics have saved the Warriors numerous times during a tough start to their title defense this season. But the reigning champs will reportedly need to do without their superstar guard for the foreseeable future.
Curry is expected to miss “a few weeks” due to the left shoulder injury he sustained Wednesday night, ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski reported.
Curry left for the locker room toward the end of the third quarter of the Warriors’ 125-119 defeat to the Indianapolis Pacers after he tweaked his shoulder trying to strip the ball from a driving Jalen Smith. Curry was seen grabbing his shoulder and wincing in pain, prompting coach Steve Kerr to call a timeout. The Warriors guard headed to the locker room and did not return to the game.
Curry was scheduled to undergo an MRI on Thursday afternoon in Philadelphia, where the Warriors play Friday.
If “a few weeks” means four, the Warriors (14-15) will be without Curry for 14 games through Jan. 15.
Curry has been by far the team’s best player this season as he’s mounting another MVP candidacy. His shooting splits of 50/43.4/91.9 are among the best of his career. He’s averaging 30 points per game — 11 more than Andrew Wiggins, who’s second in scoring on the team’s leader board. Curry is also dishing out a team-high 6.8 assists and grabbing 6.6 rebounds, second to only Kevon Looney.
The Warriors are a team-best plus-145 when Curry is on the court and minus-127 when he’s off it.
The challenge lies on everyone to help fill the void felt by his absence — something the team has struggled to do even with him resting on the bench between outings. But Draymond Green, Klay Thompson and Jordan Poole will be especially vital in keeping the team afloat over the next few weeks.
The Warriors need Green to play like he did in his prime; Thompson to be the lethal shot-hunting alpha he was pre-injury; and Poole to slow down and figure it out after a hit-or-miss start.
Poole showed last season that he can step up in big moments. He was key in helping the Warriors weather the storm down the stretch last season when Curry missed the last 12 games of the regular season with a sprained left foot ligament. Poole led the league in 3-pointers made over the months of March and April, making 87 of them at a 41.9% clip.
After Curry went down in March, the Warriors lost six of seven games before rattling out five straight wins to secure the No. 3 seed in the Western Conference.
This season, the Warriors have lost all three games Curry has sat out. They’re 67-133 all-time without their star.
Curry’s injury comes while the Warriors are in the middle of their longest road trip of the season. While Golden state has been one of the league’s best teams while at Chase Center, where it’s 12-2, that prosperity hasn’t translated outside the Bay. The Warriors fell to 2-13 on the road and 14-15 overall Wednesday after yet another close loss to the Pacers.
Correcting the Warriors’ road issues will be even more difficult without Curry’s leadership and ability to take over games.
“This has been a tough start to the season, we’re in a tough stretch, maybe it’s going to get tougher if Steph’s out for a little while. I mean, if he’s out, it’ll for sure get tougher,” coach Steve Kerr told reporters Wednesday night in Indianapolis. “But we just got to preserve. You just keep playing and you keep fighting, and it’s a long season.
“The thing I’m very, very confident about is that if we’re healthy, we feel like we can beat anybody.”
For now, though, Golden State will have to try to figure it out their best player.
