How does the Warriors’ playoff outlook change without Steph Curry?
“That’s definitely a worry, is continuity and consistency. And we haven’t been able to build that for the most part."
SAN FRANCISCO — The Warriors may have avoided a worst-case scenario with Steph Curry’s injury, but his absence could seismically shift Golden State’s playoff outlook.
Curry’s foot sprain is expected to keep him out for several weeks, but there’s reportedly hope he will be ready for the playoffs, which start April 16. But those 12 games Curry will miss are lost opportunities for the Warriors to learn to play together as a fully healthy team.
“Anytime you haven’t had the opportunity to play together, it’s a worry. It seems like anytime we get someone back, someone is out,” Draymond Green said. “That’s definitely a worry, is continuity and consistency. And we haven’t been able to build that for the most part. That is 100 percent a worry.”
The Warriors’ most trying stretches of this season came with assurances that they’d be near unstoppable with a full, healthy squad. Curry, Klay Thompson and Green together on the court again would push their offense and defense to their dynasty-era highs again.
But this team is snakebit. That full bill of health has come within grasp twice, only for a core player to be injured soon after. Thompson missed the first 38 games after two years off rehabbing ACL and Achilles’ surgeries. Green spent seven ceremonious seconds on the court in Thompson’s return before sitting out the first of a 31-game absence with a back injury.
Green returned for Monday’s win against the Wizards, sparked by the core trio’s first game played together in 1,005 days. One game later, Boston’s Marcus Smart rolled over Curry’s foot, erasing any hope that the trio will play any more regular-season games together this year.
Curry, Green and Thompson have played 11 minutes total together over the last three seasons. Familiarity may benefit the trio if and when they reunite in the playoffs, but the entire team needs to know how they play together — a task made more difficult during the playoff gauntlet.
“It sucks,” Green said. “Sometimes, that is how the cookie crumbles. We have to figure it out and deal with it. It is rough. It sucks for sure.”
Before the news broke of Curry’s MRI results, coach Steve Kerr kept an even keel about his team’s neverending injury cycle.
“We’ve been unbelievably fortunate with the Warriors over this last decade,” he said. “Winning championships and having great players and great people come through here. Adversity hits everybody, at any time, and you just roll with it and keep moving forward. Hopefully, Steph will be OK.”
The Warriors will have 12 Curry-less games to maintain their hold of the Western Conference’s third seed and keep away plenty of teams hot on their heels.
With a 47-23 record, the Warriors sit a game behind the Grizzlies for the second seed and nine games back of the Suns for the first. The Utah Jazz and Dallas Mavericks are 3.5 games back of the Warriors for their third seed, the Denver Nuggets not far behind.
The toughest stretch of the schedule is behind them, but the Warriors play top teams in the Heat, Grizzlies, Suns and Jazz in four of their final 12 games without the central piece of their offense in Curry. The Warriors have a team-best 114.1 offensive rating with Curry on the court and team-worst 103.7 offensive rating when he’s off the court.
Golden State may be able to maintain a top-four seed in those 12 games without Curry. How they’ll adjust after his return is yet another concern — but one they’d be glad to sort through.