Stephen Curry sat down after the Golden State Warriors went through their gameday shootaround practice in Minneapolis on Thursday, quickly announcing that he's feeling great.
He was not telling the truth.
“Sarcasm,” the four-time NBA champion with the Warriors quickly clarified, just in case anyone missed the joke.
Curry is going to be a postseason spectator for at least a few games, his Grade 1 hamstring strain bad enough that it took him out of most of Game 1 of the Warriors' Western Conference semifinal series on Tuesday — and will sideline him not only for Game 2 on Thursday but likely Games 3 and 4 in San Francisco.
Curry — who is with the team but isn't allowed to do anything basketball-related right now, even stationary shooting — isn't exactly sure why the strain happened. He's never had any hamstring issue of significance before.
“It's hard to really predict this stuff is what I'm learning,” Curry said. “There were no, like, warning signs or any weird feelings. I felt great the whole game up until that point. And then I made a little pivot move on defense and felt something.”
Curry thought he would be able to return to Game 1, then quickly realized that wasn't the case. Playing with the strain could have made the issue far worse, Curry said. And hamstrings, he's quickly learning, need time, no matter what sort of rehabilitation program he partakes in.
“Obviously, a tough break,” Curry said. “Hopefully I'll be back soon.”
Curry scored 13 points in 13 minutes of Game 1, left in the second quarter and Golden State went on to finish off a 99-88 win. Buddy Hield, Jimmy Butler and Draymond Green combined for 62 points for the Warriors, who held Minnesota to a 5-for-29 effort on 3-point tries and limited the Timberwolves to 60 points through three quarters.
“We have a lot of confidence that we can still win the series and guys will step up no matter how it looks," Curry said. "And it’s obviously a situation where you want to think positively and optimistically that we can win games and buy me some time to get back and hopefully have another series after this and be able to be in a position where I can get back out there safely, where I’m not putting too much risk on the body if it’s not ready.”
Curry, who is averaging a team-best 22 points in these playoffs for Golden State, can still contribute in small ways even if he's not playing.
“The guys obviously revere Steph, and they love his presence and that'll matter to us tonight during the game,” coach Steve Kerr said in his pregame interview. “I'm sure he'll be talking to the guys on the sidelines and giving some thoughts. He may come into our huddle and make a suggestion, which I always welcome, so it's good to have him here for sure.”
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