Steph Curry continued his sizzling taking pictures from the second half of Recreation 7 in opposition to the Houston Rockets by scoring 13 factors in 13 minutes in Recreation 1 in opposition to the Minnesota Timberwolves. However his hamstring damage makes the Golden State Warriors‘ path to extra collection wins far more onerous.
The Warriors introduced Wednesday that Curry would miss at least one week after he was recognized with a Grade 1 hamstring pressure. That is comparatively excellent news for the Warriors, since that is the lowest diploma of damage, nevertheless it nonetheless means he’ll miss at the least the following three video games. If the Warriors can win a type of video games, Curry may sit till Recreation 6 on Could 18, giving him 12 days of restoration time.
Can the Warriors keep afloat whereas Curry is out? They’re going to have to lean closely on Jimmy Butler to do it. “Playoff Jimmy” has carried short-handed groups to playoff success previously, because of his playmaking, protection and powerful skill to get to the foul line.
Golden State obtained 5 three-pointers from Buddy Hield in Recreation 1 and 4 from Draymond Inexperienced, however they will want a few of their younger function gamers to step up. Second-year guard Brandin Podziemski scored solely three factors Tuesday night time, however he had a 26-point effort in opposition to the Rockets. Moses Moody will possible play greater than his 9 minutes Tuesday, however his taking pictures has been inconsistent, whereas Gary Payton II’s offensive recreation is primarily created by others within the type of nook threes and dunks.
The wild card is Jonathan Kuminga, the fourth-year ahead who had fallen out of coach Steve Kerr’s rotation within the first spherical. Whereas Kuminga has struggled, he does have a novel skill among the many remaining Warriors to drive to the ring and draw fouls. The Warriors will want Kuminga to hold the scoring load at occasions, regardless of his defensive limitations.
The Warriors’ greatest hope comes on the opposite facet of the ball, the place Curry-free lineups that includes Butler have been top-tier defenses. Since Butler joined the group in February, such models have a point differential of +12.8 because of their lockdown protection. Payton and Inexperienced aren’t nice shooters, however they’re elite defenders, as is Butler. Giving extra minutes to Moody and middle Kevon Looney offers the Warriors extra rebounding and protection as effectively.
It should be exhausting for the Warriors to mount comebacks in the event that they fall behind too far. However their protection could be sufficient to maintain them on this collection till — or if — Curry returns.
