alarm bells go off Golden State Warriors. In a season that was already worrying enough due to the irregular performance of the defending champions, now they are going to have to face a long and indeterminate period without their main star: Stephen Curry.
The point guard suffered an injury on Saturday, February 4 against the Mavs, which resulted in a partial tear of the superior tibiofibular ligaments and the interosseous membrane of the left knee. An absence that, in the words of Steve Kerr, “It’s not an injury that’s going to keep him out for the rest of the season. He’ll be back sooner rather than later.” In fact, NBC’s Monte Poole reported that I would lose 5 games.
MORE | What is known about Stephen Curry’s injury? The Golden State star did not complete the game against the Dallas Mavericks and will be out for several weeks
The positive part for the interests of Golden State is that there is very little left for the All-Star Weekend break, so, after the last duel, there will be 9 days without games where the point guard will work on recovering physically.
Still, losing someone of Curry’s caliber will have a noticeable impact, It is time to analyze how the Warriors without his star
subscribe to NBA League Pass to see all the games: United States | Rest of the world
How does Stephen Curry’s injury impact the Warriors?
The balance of the Golden State Warriors without Stephen Curry this season is 9 wins and 9 losses. A record that must be put in context. In the first 8 commitments that the Californians faced without the star, they fell in 6 of them with 4 in a row. Later they came to chain 5 wins without Steph until both numbers were equal in the general box. What does this mean? That Steve Kerr’s men are an absolutely unpredictable team when Curry isn’t around.
The lack of a star who solves as many problems as Steph makes this her thermometer. The point guard is the top scorer, the player who accumulates the most offensive use and the second who produces the most assists, almost tied with Draymond Green. Replacing him is not an easy matter to solve, less in the current situation of the team. More when the contrast between when he plays and when he is not so huge:
- When Curry is on the court: +5.05 from net rating
- When Curry is not on the court: -6.15 from net rating
The way the Warriors muddled through at other times this season where Curry was taken out was by bringing on Jordan Poole in the starting five. This simple and obvious decision causes an automatic mismatch in rotations. And it is that Golden State has a depth problem in its second unit, in such a way that there is no other in the bank that occupies Poole’s minutes. All this responsibility rests with Donte DiVincenzo and Jonathan Kumingawhich are far from being able to have a noticeable impact.
What is going to make the difference between this absence of Steph and the others of this course is that now Andrew Wiggins yes it will be available. The Canadian has only played in 33 games due to physical ankle problems, going in and out of the rotation multiple times. Wiggins adds another package to Kerr’s rotation and together with Thompson he can help the Bahia stay on the table.
However, the calendar that Golden State has ahead does not invite optimism. Not so much because of the entity of their rivals but because of the moment they are going through. In the coming weeks they have to face to Thunder, Blazers, Lakers (double game), Clippers (two games as well), Rockets and Wolves. Of these, only Houston’s visit to the Chase Center will be the most affordable commitment. The rest are in full battle to enter or avoid the Play-In in the Western Conference and after having passed the trade deadline more than one will have been reinforced.
Those 5 potential games out for Curry are a pretty optimistic view of an injury that may end up dragging on for longer. The problem is that right now Golden State is in 8th place (27-26) with just 2.5 games away from 13th place. One misstep and the entire season could be in jeopardy.
The opinions expressed herein do not necessarily represent those of the NBA or its organizations.
