Warriors' Steph Curry sprains left ankle vs. Clippers, will undergo ...

3 days ago
Warriors vs Clippers

SAN FRANCISCO — Steph Curry twisted his left ankle twice in the Golden State Warriors’ 112-104 loss to the LA Clippers on Sunday, limping to the locker room and exiting for the night with what the team is officially calling a left ankle sprain.

Warriors coach Steve Kerr said Curry called his sprain “mild” and “moderate.” Kerr said Curry will undergo an MRI Sunday night.

“He doesn’t think it’s too bad,” Kerr said. “But obviously it’s a concern.”

Steph appears to aggravate his ankle injury and heads to the locker room pic.twitter.com/AllTixka32

— Warriors on NBCS (@NBCSWarriors) October 28, 2024

The first twist came late in the third quarter. Curry hobbled toward the bench and called for a substitution, but didn’t leave for the locker room after talking it over with team trainer Drew Yoder. Curry instead asked for an exercise band to stretch it out while on the bench.

Curry sat until the middle of the fourth quarter, grimacing while trying to put pressure on it. He entered at the 8:08 mark and, within 10 seconds, twisted it again while setting a screen in the left corner.

Curry’s pain was obvious immediately. He limped toward the corner, called for a substitution and then hobbled to the back followed by lead medical decision maker Rick Celebrini. General manager Mike Dunleavy went down the tunnel moments later to check on Curry. The team ruled him out soon after.

What happened in the game?

The Warriors weren’t playing well before Curry’s departure. He had six of their 21 turnovers. Buddy Hield, Jonathan Kuminga and Brandin Podziemski went a combined 2-of-20 from 3. Kerr was searching rotationally the entire night and actually ended up closing with Kevon Looney over Draymond Green.

The team’s brightest spot was Andrew Wiggins, who scored 29 points and went 11-of-15 shooting, nearly bringing them back late. He’s looked great early season while Kuminga has struggled.

The loss drops them to 2-1 before two straight home games against the New Orleans Pelicans this week.

What if they don’t have Curry for those games?

While deemed mild, it appears likely that Curry will miss at least some amount of time. Without him, the Warriors will need to rearrange their rotation.

They’ve been starting Curry in a big lineup that includes Kuminga, Wiggins, Green and Trayce Jackson-Davis. Without Curry (and even with him) that is a unit that has no spacing. Kerr has talked about wanting to get Hield on the floor this season in the non-Curry minutes. If there are non-Curry games, it seems likely that Kerr would elevate Hield into the starting lineup and get a point guard, perhaps Podziemski, out there with him.

Required reading Warriors continue to emanate positive vibes, blast Jazz by 41 points NBA Reliability Tiers: From LeBron to Luka, league’s top stars populate our top 10 Can Steve Kerr and the Warriors really keep deploying a 12-man rotation?

(Photo: Kevork Djansezian / Getty Images)

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Anthony Slater is a senior writer covering the Golden State Warriors for The Athletic. He's covered the NBA for a decade. Previously, he reported on the Oklahoma City Thunder for The Oklahoman. Follow Anthony on Twitter @anthonyVslater

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