Steph Curry Has Ankle Injury, May Not Play in Game 2
The Golden State Warriors opened its title retention campaign in the first round of the playoffs by giving the Houston Rockets a 104-78 beating on Saturday, but not before a scary moment in the first half when leading scorer and reigning MVP Steph Curry rolled his ankle.
The road to a second NBA Finals stint for the Warriors comes with obstacles, but the team aren't expecting it would come to this. Although the injury is apparently not that serious, there is a good chance that head coach Steve Kerr might decide to let him sit out Game 2. After all, the way the first game of this series went, it looks like the Rockets are unlikely to get a win in Golden State's home court.
Curry managed to return to the game after halftime and delivered as usual, scoring 24 points in limited minutes. He went back to the locker room with the medical staff, fueling speculations that the injury might have been more serious than what was previously thought. As it turned out, he only had his ankle re-taped.
Get Our Latest News for FREE
Although he said that he isn't sold on the idea of missing the next game, the coaching staff will be applauded if they give him time to rest it. Well, Game 2 might actually be the most opportune time for him to take a backseat after grinding it out the last few games in the regular season, all for the hope of surpassing the Chicago Bulls' record of most wins in a season. And now that they've done it, it's time for the Warriors to ease him up a bit to have some firepower left going deeper in the playoffs.
The team knows Curry will insist on playing Game 2 of the playoff series that the Warriors are favored to win, so it's really a matter of how they'd convince them not to. Kerr believes they can play a game or two and win them without their biggest star. "Oh, yeah, for sure. When Steph's out, our guys understand that he's not there to count on, so they have to execute," he told The Associated Press.
One telltale sign that Curry will sit this one out is the news that he didn't participate in the team's practice after their Game 1 win.
