Stephen Curry has missed five games for the Golden State Warriors due to a knee issue. He’s now guaranteed to miss at least five more.
The Warriors have ruled out the former MVP for the next 10 days, at which point he will be re-evaluated, the team announced Thursday. An MRI reportedly came back clean of any structural damage Wednesday, but the pain and swelling has persisted in his right knee.
“It’s just lingering soreness,” Warriors head coach Steve Kerr said Thursday.
Sitting out Thursday’s game against the Boston Celtics means Curry will have missed 17 games this season. His next missed game will make him ineligible for the NBA’s regular-season awards, breaking a five-year streak of All-NBA teams.
Curry last played Jan. 30, exiting a competitive game after the third quarter due to some awkward contact on a drive. Kerr said after the game that the team didn’t believe Curry’s knee issue was “anything major,” but at least 10 missed games is veering into major territory.
The Warriors’ next five games are against the Celtics, Denver Nuggets, New Orleans Pelicans, Memphis Grizzlies and Los Angeles Lakers. If he is green-lit to return after 10 days, his first game back would be against the Los Angeles Clippers on March 2.
Golden State currently sits at 29-26, good for eighth place in the Western Conference. It’s not in much danger of falling out of the play-in tournament — it’s eight games ahead of 11th-place Memphis — but there’s a very real chance its record will be .500 or worse by the time Curry comes back.
On the bright side for the Warriors, trade acquisition Kristaps Porziņģis is expected to make his debut Thursday after dealing with an Achilles injury. However, with Curry’s knee woes and Jimmy Butler III already being out for the season, there’s little reason to expect the team to be aggressive with getting any of its standout players on the court.
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