Steph Curry injury is devastating to NBA
On Sunday, the Golden State Warriors took a 3-1 series lead over the Houston Rockets in their Western Conference quarterfinal matchup in the NBA playoffs. Ultimately, nobody cared because of the injury to Stephen Curry.
Curry left in the second half with a sprained knee and is now expected to miss at least two weeks, per multiple reports. Without Curry, the Warriors will still likely beat Houston at the ORACLE Arena in Game 5 and move into the conference semifinals, drawing a date with the Los Angeles Clippers. There, all of the certainties go out the window. General manager Bob Myers is hopeful Curry can return sooner rather than later, per ESPN.
“We said two weeks, but that’s no guarantee that it will be in two weeks, might be after two weeks, might be before,” Myers said. “But I think it will be somewhere in that range, hopefully.”
With Curry in the lineup, there is little question whether the Warriors would have dispatched the Clippers in five games of fewer. Now, Golden State could be in real trouble against one of the more talented rosters in the league, headlined by Chris Paul, Blake Griffin and DeAndre Jordan.
The injury to Curry’s knee could very well keep him out for the first four games of the upcoming series if not the entire deal. Even if he comes back quickly, one has to wonder how healthy Curry will be, and how long it would take to knock the proverbial rust off. While the Warriors still have ample talent in Draymond Green and Klay Thompson, they are nowhere near as imposing with the reigning and soon-to-be MVP in Curry.
While the loss of Curry is especially brutal for all the fans in the Bay Area, it is a tough blow for all of the NBA. Golden State was a record-setting club in the regular season, reeling off 73 wins and looking like perhaps the best team ever assembled. Now? The Warriors are simply a good one, and should Curry not be able to return to form, they will be ousted by either the Clippers or the San Antonio Spurs in the Western Conference Finals. Smart money would be on Golden State to survive Los Angeles, but it would get pummeled by San Antonio.
At this juncture, the hope has to be that the Warriors can find a way to keep the ship floating until the captain gets back behind the wheel. Golden State should be praying that the first round sees a couple of seven-game series, pushing back the start of the semifinals. If the series all end quickly, Curry’s absence will be ever harder to handle.
Let’s all hope Curry gets back and can play at 100 percent. After all, the playoffs are about seeing the best compete on a nightly basis. Without Curry in the show, that’s not happening.
