Steph Curry injury might not doom Warriors — but it doesn't help

[ad_1] Steph Curry continued his scorching capturing from the second half of Recreation 7 in opposition to the Houston Rockets by scoring 13 factors in 13 minutes in Recreation 1 in opposition to the Minnesota Timberwolves. However his hamstring damage makes the Golden State Warriors' path to extra sequence wins rather more onerous.

The Warriors introduced Wednesday that Curry would miss not less than one week after he was recognized with a Grade 1 hamstring pressure. That is comparatively excellent news for the Warriors, since that is the lowest diploma of damage, nevertheless it nonetheless means he'll miss not less than the following three video games. If the Warriors can win a kind of video games, Curry might sit till Recreation 6 on Could 18, giving him 12 days of restoration time.

Can the Warriors keep afloat whereas Curry is out? They're going to have to lean closely on Jimmy Butler to do it. "Playoff Jimmy" has carried short-handed groups to playoff success prior to now, due to his playmaking, protection and robust potential to get to the foul line.

“Yearly the playoffs are about adapting, whether or not it’s a sport plan or an damage or a lineup, so we simply need to adapt,” head coach Steve Kerr mentioned, per NBA.com. “We’ve completed this earlier than, and we’re assured we will do that once more.

"We predict we've got one of the best protection within the league, and that’s been confirmed during the last couple of months."

Golden State obtained 5 three-pointers from Buddy Hield in Recreation 1 and 4 from Draymond Inexperienced, however they will want a few of their younger position gamers to step up. Second-year guard Brandin Podziemski scored solely three factors Tuesday night time, however he had a 26-point effort in opposition to the Rockets. Moses Moody will doubtless play greater than his 9 minutes Tuesday, however his capturing has been inconsistent, whereas Gary Payton II's offensive sport is primarily created by others within the type of nook threes and dunks.

The wild card is Jonathan Kuminga, the fourth-year ahead who had fallen out of coach Steve Kerr's rotation within the first spherical. Whereas Kuminga has struggled, he does have a singular potential among the many remaining Warriors to drive to the ring and draw fouls. The Warriors will want Kuminga to hold the scoring load at instances, regardless of his defensive limitations.

The Warriors' greatest hope comes on the opposite facet of the ball, the place Curry-free lineups that includes Butler had been top-tier defenses. Since Butler joined the workforce in February, such items have some extent differential of +12.8 due to their lockdown protection. Payton and Inexperienced aren't nice shooters, however they're elite defenders, as is Butler. Giving extra minutes to Moody and heart Kevon Looney provides the Warriors extra rebounding and protection as nicely.

It may be arduous for the Warriors to mount comebacks in the event that they fall behind too far. However their protection could be sufficient to maintain them on this sequence till — or if — Curry returns.