The Golden State Warriors five-game road trip started in the worst possible fashion on Wednesday night, with franchise superstar Stephen Curry leaving for the locker room during the first quarter against the Houston Rockets.
Curry was subsequently ruled out for the rest of the game with right abdominal soreness, leaving the Warriors even more shorthanded after losing backup point guard Brandon Williams to a hamstring injury during Monday night’s dominant victory over the New Orleans Pelicans.
Stephen Curry injury puts Warriors on back foot to start road trip
The Warriors are still playing with Jimmy Butler, Moses Moody and the completely absent Kristaps Porzingis, while Gary Payton II has now missed the last two games due to a knee issue. Williams will miss at least a week with his hamstring injury, with Golden State down to nine available main roster players after Curry’s exit from Wednesday’s game.
The absence of Curry, Butler and even Williams places more pressure on young duo Yaxel Lendeborg and Brandin Podziemski to create offense. In fairness they’ve made a good start after reducing a 15-point Rockets lead to just a five-point deficit at half time.
Lendeborg led all scorers with 18 points, eight rebounds and two steals in nearly 21 first half minutes, shooting 7-of-14 from the floor in another impressive period for the 11th overall pick. Podziemski finished the half with nine points, three rebounds and two assists in nearly 19 minutes.
With Curry and Williams both sidelined, two-way contracted guard LJ Cryer saw rare opportunity in the rotation during the first half. The second-year guard nailed two of his three triples in a helpful six minutes on the floor.
Stephen Curry’s injury comes at inopportune time for Warriors
It remains to be seen how serious Curry’s abdominal injury is, but needless to say it comes at an opportune time for the Warriors given their already significant injury issues.
Despite being short-handed, Golden State have been one of the hottest teams in the league as they ride an eight-game winning streak. Their hope of sustaining that momentum will take a hit if Curry misses any sort of meaningful period, particularly with notable challenges ahead on their first major road trip of the season.
The Warriors will have to hope the impressive form of Lendeborg and Podziemski can continue, while also still getting meaningful contributions to those that remain available and on the court.
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