Stephen Curry has been absent from five contests for the Golden State Warriors because of a knee problem. He is now set to miss a minimum of five additional games.
The team declared the ex-MVP unavailable for the upcoming 10-day period, after which his condition will be reassessed, as the Warriors confirmed on Thursday. An MRI scan reportedly showed no structural harm on Wednesday; however, discomfort and inflammation have continued in Curry’s right knee.
“There is merely persistent discomfort,” stated Steve Kerr, the head coach for the Warriors, on Thursday.
By not participating in Thursday’s match against the Boston Celtics, Curry will have been absent for 17 games this season. Should he miss another game, he would become disqualified from consideration for the NBA’s regular-season accolades, interrupting a five-year run of being named to All-NBA squads.
The Celtics emerged victorious in Thursday’s competition with a score of 121-110.
Curry’s last appearance was on January 30, when he departed a competitive contest following the third quarter because of unusual contact during a drive. After the game, Kerr mentioned that the organization did not consider Curry’s knee ailment to be “anything serious,” but an absence of at least 10 games is approaching significant concern.
Following their matchup with the Celtics, the Warriors’ subsequent four games are scheduled against the Denver Nuggets, New Orleans Pelicans, Memphis Grizzlies, and Los Angeles Lakers. Should he receive clearance to rejoin the team after 10 days, Curry’s initial return game would be versus the Los Angeles Clippers on March 2.
Golden State presently holds a record of 29-27, positioning them eighth in the Western Conference. They are not at significant risk of dropping out of the play-in tournament — maintaining a 7.5-game lead over 11th-ranked Memphis — yet there is a considerable likelihood that the team’s win-loss standing could be .500 or below by the time Curry makes his comeback.
Conversely, for the Warriors, newly acquired player Kristaps Porziņģis participated in his first game on Thursday, having recovered from an Achilles ailment, contributing 12 points in 17 minutes as a reserve. Nevertheless, given Curry’s knee problems and Jimmy Butler III already being sidelined for the remainder of the season, there is scant expectation for the team to hasten the return of any of its key athletes to the playing surface.
