Golden State Warriors: How Stephen Curry’s injury affects 5-game road trip
Stephen Curry will not be available for the Golden State Warriors when they host the Los Angeles Clippers on Wednesday at Oracle Arena.
The Golden State Warriors will host the Los Angeles Clippers on Wednesday at Oracle Arena, but they’ll unfortunately do so without superstar point guard Stephen Curry and his backcourt mate, Klay Thompson.
Per Warriors PR, Curry will be held out due to a sprained right ankle that he sustained during shootaround earlier today. The story is that he slipped near the end of shootaround, spraining his right ankle in the process.
This is not only the same ankle that Curry injured back in December 2017 and caused him to miss 11 consecutive games, but it’s also the one he had surgically repaired back during the 2011-12 season. While the team assures that this recent injury is nothing to worry about, they’ve opted to take the precautionary route by keeping Curry out of Wednesday’s contest against the Clips.
As for Thompson, the sharpshooting shooting guard is merely enjoying some time off for rest. Kevin Durant (right calf strain), Draymond Green (right knee soreness) and Andre Iguodala (left knee and hip soreness) were originally listed as “probable,” but Warriors PR announced they’ll each be available to play vs. LAC.
Injury update for tonight's game: Stephen Curry (sprained right ankle) & Klay Thompson (rest) are out. Kevin Durant (right calf strain), Draymond Green (right knee soreness) & Andre Iguodala (left knee & hip soreness) are available to play.
— Warriors PR (@WarriorsPR) January 10, 2018
An unnamed source spoke to Connor Letorneau of the San Francisco Chronicle, saying that although the injury “doesn’t look serious at all,” the team has chosen not to take “any chances on anything this year.”
Warriors general manager, Bob Myers, went on record with 95.7 The Game after Golden State’s morning shootaround, overtly stating that the team isn’t too worried about Curry’s ankle and that there was no need to conduct an MRI.
"I didn't see it. He was mad he tweaked his ankle. No need to have a MRI. Our trainer would describe it as 'probably unwise to put him out there.' I can't say it's something we're really concerned about."-Bob Myers on Steph's fall in practice today pic.twitter.com/AOuKEtzyvG
— 95.7 The Game (@957thegame) January 10, 2018
The Warriors will soon hit the road for a 5-game road trip that will feature the Milwaukee Bucks, Toronto Raptors, Cleveland Cavaliers, Chicago Bulls and Houston Rockets. Three of those teams are sure to make the Eastern Conference playoffs, and one of those teams is looking to retake the first seed in the West from the Warriors.
Golden State has been on an absolute tear the last five games, and much of that has had to do with Curry’s return. Since coming back from injury, Curry’s averaged 35.2 points, 5.6 rebounds, 5.6 assists and 1.4 steals over the course of five games. He’s also shot 57.4 percent from the field, 53.2 percent from behind the arc and 89.7 from the free throw line.
While it’s great to have KD back after he was forced to sit out three consecutive contests due to a calf sprain, the fact of the matter is that the team has been THAT much better — not to mention, more watchable — with Curry on the floor. Remove Curry, and it completely reshapes the dynamic of the Dubs.
Next: KD to play Wednesday vs. LAC
But most importably, Curry already missed Christmas Day’s game against the Cavs, much to the disappointment of NBA fans everywhere. It would be a shame for Curry to miss Golden State’s only other regular season matchup against LeBron James, denying fans the ass-whooping we all know Cleveland has coming to them.