While much attention in NBA circles Sunday was paid to Kyrie Irving getting traded to the Dallas Mavericks, more injury information was revealed about one of the league’s top players.
And it wasn’t exactly the best of news for Golden State Warriors superstar Steph Curry, who left Saturday’s win over the Mavericks in the third quarter with a left lower leg ailment.
The Warriors announced the severity of Curry’s injury a day later stating that the four-time NBA champion and reigning Finals MVP suffered partial tears to his superior tibiofibular ligaments and interosseous membrane as well as a contusion to his lower leg.
There’s no definitive return date set yet for Curry as the Warriors will have “additional clarity on a potential timeline” soon. ESPN reported Curry is expected to be out through the All-Star break in mid-February.
But it appears the Warriors dodged the worst case scenario as the injury to Curry shouldn’t be season-ending.
“The good news is he’s going to be back … it’s not an injury that’ll keep him out all season,” Warriors head coach Steve Kerr told reporters Sunday, per ESPN’s Kendra Andrews. “He’s going to come back this season, hopefully sooner than later.”
The defending champion Warriors are now in a tricky spot with 29 games left in their regular season and fighting for a playoff spot in a log-jammed Western Conference. As of 6:30 p.m. ET on Sunday, Golden State sits tied for seventh place with a 27-26 record, which is only a half game better than the Utah Jazz and New Orleans Pelicans, who are deadlocked in 10th.
The Portland Trail Blazers are just on the outside looking in at the playoffs at the moment as they are only a game behind the Warriors. And with Curry sidelined, it opens up an opportunity for many Western Conference teams, including the Los Angeles Lakers, to make a playoff push.
When Curry has been out this season, including missing 11 games in December and January due to a left shoulder subluxation, the Warriors have gone 7-8.
