Golden State All-Star guard Stephen Curry will be sidelined with an injury to his left foot, the team said Sunday, and the Warriors are not sure how many weeks he will miss.
After an MRI, Curry was revealed to have partial tears in his superior tibiofibular ligament and interosseous membrane in his left leg and also had a concussion in his lower leg. But Warriors coach Steve Kerr insisted on Sunday that the news could have been worse.
“I didn’t know those ligaments existed,” Kerr said. “I think the main thing is he’s going to be out for a bit. We’re going to reevaluate in a few days. And the good news is he’s going to be back. We don’t know exactly when but it’s such an injury. There is nothing that will keep him out for the season. He is going to make a comeback this season and hopefully make a comeback as soon as possible.”
Curry left Saturday’s game against Dallas with 2:01 left in the third quarter after his wrapped left foot — which he originally hurt Thursday in a matchup against Denver — appeared to buckle while playing defense. Gave.
He immediately started jumping up in obvious discomfort, then left the game and did not return.
Curry, who is averaging 29.4 points per game this season, will not play Monday against Oklahoma City. And with the All-Star Game two weeks away, it’s now very possible that Curry won’t be there.
If Curry – or any of the other 24 players selected for the NBA All-Star Game – cannot participate in the February 19 contest, commissioner Adam Silver will select a replacement. The starters were chosen by a formula that included voting from fans, the media, and NBA players. The reserves were picked by NBA coaches.
Curry had already had an extended absence of the season, missing 11 games from December 16 to January 7 with a shoulder injury. The Warriors went 6–5 in those games, with five games remaining before the All-Star break.
Kerr said, “We just got through a stretch without him … and held our own.” “We know we can hold our own now. We went through it last year when he missed I think the last 10 games of the season or so and obviously played great in the playoffs. We have some of that.” We have the experience and we are confident that we can keep things going and be where we want to be by the end of the year.
The Warriors, like many Western Conference teams, have little room for error in the playoff chase. Golden State is 27-26 and entered Sunday in seventh place in the West — three games behind third-ranked Sacramento but only one game ahead of 11th-ranked Portland.
The top six teams in each conference are assured of a playoff spot. Teams that finished between seventh and 10th would go into a play-in tournament to decide the No. 7 and No. 8 seeds in each conference bracket.