If the Warriors want to continue marching toward a title, they will have to do it without Stephen Curry for a little while. The NBA's reigning MVP suffered a Grade 1 MCL sprain in Golden's State's Game 4 victory on Sunday, according to Yahoo! Sports' Adrian Wojnarowski. The Warriors say Curry will be re-evaluated in two weeks.
The Warriors sent Curry in for an MRI Monday that revealed no additional damage, Wojnarowski reported. If Curry misses two weeks, that means he'll sit out for the remainder of the Warriors' first-round series against the Rockets and the first 2-3 games of their second-round series against the Clippers or Blazers.
Nevertheless, the news is a mild relief to Warriors fans that feared the worst after Curry slipped and fell to the floor awkwardly while defending a Trevor Ariza pull-up jumper at the end of the first half.
Curry initially warmed up at halftime, but did not play in the second half. The Warriors went on to win 121-94 to gain a 3-1 series lead. Golden State now must close out Houston without their star point guard as they await the winner of the Clippers-Trail Blazers series.
This was Curry's first game back after twisting his right ankle in Game 1 of this series. Curry did not play in Game 2 or Game 3, with Houston claiming victory in the latter game on their home floor. Curry was not effective in his 19 minutes of play Sunday, finishing with six points and five turnovers on 2-of-9 shooting from the floor. He has a long history of ankle problems, so the Warriors were cautious before letting him return to the game.
Without Curry, Shaun Livingston will continue to start at point guard. Livingston has played well in Curry's absence, but the loss of Curry saps the Warriors of their most powerful offensive weapon and fundamentally changes the geometry of the floor. It also forces worse players to step in to fill Livingston's role, which weakens the bench.