Golden State All-Star guard Stephen Curry will be out for several weeks due to injuries to his left leg, the Warriors announced on Sunday.
Curry was diagnosed with partial tears to his superior tibiofibular ligament and interosseous membrane in his left leg, as well as a lower-leg contusion, following an MRI. However, Warriors coach Steve Kerr emphasised on Sunday that the news could have been much worse.
“I had no idea those ligaments existed,” Kerr admitted. “I think the main thing is that he’ll be out for a little while. We’ll make another decision in a few days. And the good news is that he’ll be back. We don’t know when it will happen, but it will not be an injury. to keep him out for the season. He’ll be back this season, hopefully sooner rather than later.”
Curry left Saturday’s game against Dallas with 2:01 remaining in the third quarter after his wrapped left leg — which he first hurt Thursday in a game against Denver — appeared to buckle while he was playing defence.
He started hopping in obvious discomfort, then left the game and never returned.
Curry, who is averaging 29.4 points per game this season, will not play against Oklahoma City on Monday. And, with the All-Star Game only two weeks away, it appears Curry will not be there.
If Curry or any of the other 24 players chosen for the NBA All-Star Game are unable to compete on Feb. 19, Commissioner Adam Silver will choose a replacement. The starters were chosen using a formula that included fan, media, and NBA player voting. NBA coaches chose the reserves.
Curry has already missed 11 games this season due to a shoulder injury, missing 11 games from Dec. 16 to Jan. 7. The Warriors went 6-5 in those games and now have five games remaining before the All-Star break.
Warriors.
“We just made it through a stretch without him… and held our own,” Kerr explained. “We know we can compete now. We went through this last year when he missed the final 10, I believe.
games of the season or so and obviously had a fantastic playoff run. We’ve done this before, and we’re confident that we can keep things moving and get to where we want to be by the end of the year.” The Warriors, like many other Western Conference teams, have little leeway in the playoff race. Golden State is 27-26 and sits seventh in the Western Conference, three games behind third-place Sacramento but only one game ahead of 11th-place Portland.
Each conference’s top six teams are guaranteed playoff spots. Teams finishing seventh through tenth will compete in a play-in tournament to determine the No. 7 and No. 8 seeds in each of the tournaments conference brackets.