The Golden State Warriors were already struggling to repeat as NBA champions. Without their MVP, that effort might be doomed.
Curry got hurt when Dorian Finney-Smith bumped knees with him during the Warriors’ win over the Mavericks. He immediately exited the game and got X-rays in the locker room.
The lateral contact to the knee was already worrisome, but Curry was already nursing a sore left knee after he got hit on a three-point attempt against the Nuggets Thursday. He was playing with extra padding when he took the hit Saturday.
Golden State was beginning a favorable stretch of the schedule which had them playing twelve straight games on the West Coast, and eight at home. That’s huge for a 7th place team that’s just 7-20 on the road this season. Now they’ll likely be without Curry for all of it, and perhaps longer. The only fortunate part is that the whole league will take a week off for the All-Star break, while Curry rehabs.
Earlier this year, Curry missed nearly four weeks with a shoulder injury, and the team went 6-5 in his absence, also in a home-heavy stretch of schedule – they had an eight-game homestand. Last year, Curry got hurt with 12 games to go, and the Warriors went 1-5 in the immediate aftermath. However, they closed with five straight wins to secure the three seed, and Curry eventually won Finals MVP.
There are some differences. Last year’s Warriors had a deep bench of capable veterans like Otto Porter Jr. and Gary Payton II. This year, the bench has five players 21 and younger, a non-playing Andre Iguodala, and leans heavily on two-way players Anthony Lamb and Ty Jerome.
The biggest factor is Jordan Poole, who has slumped in his fourth season after signing a big-money extension. He’s turning the ball over 3.4 times per game, and while he’s upped his scoring to 20.5 points per game, and his three-point shooting slipped to 32.4 percent.
Golden State is only a game ahead of the 11th-place Portland Trail Blazers. Without Curry – and with just four days to restock the team before the trade deadline – they may not make the playoffs, much less repeat as champions.
