The Warriors preparing to be without Stephen Curry at least a few games after he left Wednesday night’s contest in Houston with right abdominal pain, writes Nick Friedel of The Athletic. coach Steve Kerr wasn’t sure what caused the injury or exactly when it happened, but Curry went to the locker room to get checked out midway through the first quarter and didn’t return.
Kerr told reporters that Curry’s condition was a “high concern,” but he could not provide many details after the game. Friedel notes that Curry was “obviously disappointed” when he left the floor with a member of the team’s coaching staff (Link to video on Twitter from ESPN).
“He just said he got something fixed in his stomach area and he said he’s never done that before.” Kerr said. “And tonight he went in for an MRI. We haven’t heard anything about the results … I just saw him holding his side and I tried to get him out as quickly as possible.”
Curry is off to a strong start after suffering a knee injury last season that limited him to 43 games and sidelined him for an extended stretch late in the year. He has appeared in 10 of Golden State’s first 12 games and remains extremely productive at age 38, averaging 30.6 points, 4.3 assists and 4.1 rebounds entering Wednesday.
His play helped revive the Warriors, who had their eight-game winning streak snapped on Wednesday but sit near the top of the Western Conference standings at 8-4 after winning just 37 games last season.
Will Richard said Curry addressed his teammates at halftime last night and “made sure everyone knew he was fine.” Still, it’s too early to know how long Curry might be sidelined.
If Curry faces an extended absence, Friedel notes that more of the scoring burden will be on Brandin underground and star rookie Yaksel Landeborgwho scored 47 points on Wednesday.
“It’s funny because he’s going to have to learn and understand that Steph wasn’t there, KD (Kevin Durant) was off the court, you look around, you are probably the best player on the court. Regardless of the team, Draymond Green said about Lendeborg. “I think he realized a certain point, ding, ding, ding, and he started attacking and the game turned for us. I think that’s something he’s going to have to realize very quickly. There’s going to be times when he can be the best player on the court, regardless of the team. We need him to show that. He has no problem with that.”
Landeborg played over 36 minutes in the loss at Houston, scoring 25 points and 10 rebounds on 9-of-19 shooting from the field. Podzemski played over 37 minutes, scoring 22 points, six rebounds and four assists on 7-of-15 shooting.
Podiemski notes that most of the roster was in place when Curry got hurt last season, so the players have learned to survive without making him the center of the offense.
“Playing without him is very good” Underground said. “So we’re going to figure it out. We’re a confident group. We can’t let one player as good as him kind of ruin our season. So we’ve just got to figure it out and find ways to win games.”