Stephen Curry left the arena during the second half of the Golden State Warriors’ 115-108 loss to the Houston Rockets on Wednesday night to undergo an MRI on his injured abdomen and oblique.
After the game, Warriors head coach Steve Kerr said Curry had told him the tweak in his side was an injury he had never felt before. Kerr admitted that the franchise felt a level of anxiety while it waited for the test results.
“Concern is high,” Kerr said. “But I have no idea the extent.”
Curry tries to play through the pain
Curry began grabbing at his right side a few minutes into the game. He attempted to play through the discomfort, glancing repeatedly at the training staff.
With 7:22 left in the first quarter, Curry came off a Draymond Green screen and hit a 28-foot three-pointer. He yelled in pain after releasing the shot and signalled towards the bench.
A couple of possessions later, the Warriors called a timeout. After a brief conversation with Kerr, Curry walked to the locker room in obvious discomfort, followed by Drew Yoder, a key member of the team’s medical staff. Curry stayed in the locker room for the rest of the first quarter while being checked out. Early in the second quarter, the team officially ruled him out with right abdominal soreness.
Warriors fall without their star
The Warriors trailed 19-10 when Curry exited. They clawed back to tie the game but ultimately lost by seven points, which ended an eight-game winning streak. Curry had spurred that run, and he entered Wednesday averaging 30.6 points in 28.6 minutes per game.
At halftime, before he left for the MRI, Curry spoke to his teammates. He told them to focus on the task at hand and assured them that he would get through this latest injury fine.
The injury compounds an already depleted roster. Starting wings Jimmy Butler III and Moses Moody are rehabbing long-term knee injuries. Projected starting centre Kristaps Porzingis has stepped away from the team and the sport. Backup guard Brandon Williams strained a hamstring and will miss at least a week.
Still, the loss of Curry remains the most damaging blow for an offence and an organisation that have revolved around him for nearly two decades.
Green backs the team to cope
Last season, the Warriors slumped to a 13-26 record in the 39 games Curry missed. This season, they are 1-1 without him and 8-4 overall, which gives Green confidence that the team can survive in the short term.
“The spirit of this team is better,” Green said. “We’re more certain of who we are, what makes us a good team. I think that puts us in a better position to be successful without him as opposed to where we were last year. Then obviously [Yaxel Lendeborg], having a guy you can give the ball to and he can create an advantage. [Brandin Podziemski] is playing a lot better. … It puts us in a better position.”
The Warriors next play the San Antonio Spurs on Friday night.