Golden State Warriors superstar Stephen Curry won’t be making a heroic return for Game 5 against the Minnesota Timberwolves, he told Andscape’s Marc J. Spears Monday night.
“Even if I wanted to be Superman, I couldn’t,” Curry said about his left hamstring injury, responding to teammate Draymond Green’s comment about not trying to “Superman this thing.”
The news comes at the worst possible time for the Warriors, who just lost 117-110 to Minnesota in Game 4. They’re now down 3-1 in the series and facing elimination.
Curry hurt his hamstring in the second quarter of Game 1 on May 6. Doctors diagnosed it as a Grade 1 strain.
ESPN’s Shams Charania reported the 11-time All-Star would miss at least a week. He’s scheduled for reevaluation Wednesday.
If the Warriors somehow pull off a win in Game 5 on the road, Curry would get three more days to recover before a potential Game 6 at home on Sunday.
“If he’s in a place where he can play, I’m sure he will. Him and Rick [Celebrini, Warriors vice president of player health and performance] and everybody will figure that out,” Green said.
“But we don’t need [Curry to try to be] Superman. Got to play the long game. If he can, we know he will. But there’s no pressure. We’ve got to figure out how to win whether he plays or not.”
Warriors Struggling Without Their Star
The Warriors have lost three straight games since Curry went down.
Game 4 was particularly rough. Golden State collapsed in the third quarter, getting outscored 39-17.
Jimmy Butler, who had dominated with 33 points in Game 3, seemed contained in Game 4. He took just nine shots and finished with 14 points and six rebounds.
“He wasn’t as aggressive tonight,” Warriors coach Steve Kerr explained after the game. “But I didn’t see a lot of openings, either. Ideally, we could put more shooting around him to open up the floor a little bit.”
Kerr added: “But with Steph out, we’re not going to be able to do as much of that. We’ll look at the tape and see where we can find some openings for him. And I know, he’ll be aggressive for Game 5.”
Before getting hurt, Curry was having a stellar playoff run. He was averaging 22.6 points, 5.3 rebounds, and 5.1 assists through eight games.
His shooting was on fire too – 47.7% from the field and 40% from beyond the arc.
Now the Warriors must find a way to keep their season alive without their biggest star.
