Getty Stephen Curry of the Golden State Warriors.
It’s been a rough season for the Golden State Warriors. They won a championship just a few short months ago, but now, they find themselves sitting at 15-18 on the season, placing them in 11th place in the Western Conference.
Stephen Curry is slated to miss a few weeks due to a shoulder injury, and after Golden State’s recent blowout loss to the New York Knicks, he delivered an unfortunate update. He said that he’s not even close to picking up a basketball yet.
“This is an interesting one just because I haven’t had an injury like this to the shoulder. So it’s kind of a wait-and-see approach,” Curry said “I’m still in the early healing process, so I’m nowhere near, even like, picking up a basketball yet… It’ll be a few weeks. I think into the New Year and I’ll start to key in on a timeline from there.”
The Warriors’ big-time loss to the Knicks preceded a second blowout loss to the Brooklyn Nets, in which they allowed 91 points in the first half alone. Needless to say, Golden State is missing their star point guard at the moment.
Curry was putting up MVP-caliber numbers prior to his injury. The star has appeared in 26 of the team’s 32 games so far this season and is playing 34.4 minutes per contest. He’s averaging 30.0 points, 6.6 rebounds, and 6.8 assists per game on 50.0% shooting from the field and 43.4% shooting from behind the three-point line.
Draymond Green Urges Jordan Poole to Step Up
With Curry sidelined, the Warriors will need everyone to pick up the slack. Klay Thompson and Draymond Green will have to provide the veteran leadership, but it will likely be up to Jordan Poole to carry the scoring load, as he did just that last season when Curry was injured.
After their recent win over the Toronto Raptors, Green praised Poole and discussed how important he will be to the team’s success while Curry is out.
“He was incredible on both sides of the ball,” Green said. “And when you connect the game like that, things will go your way. We all know what a special talent he is. He’s been going through some growing pains. To see him come out tonight and have the game that he had – especially with Steph being down and us needing to get a win – was really huge. His effort on the defensive end carried over to the offensive end.”
Kevon Looney Calls Out Jordan Poole
Green wasn’t the only Warrior to turn his attention to Poole after the Curry injury. After Golden State’s loss to the Philadelphia 76ers, Kevon Looney provided a similar take on the situation, stressing Poole’s importance to the team.
“Sometimes when he doesn’t get it going in the first half, he might get down on himself,” Looney said. “He didn’t shoot a lot of shots, he let the game come to him and in the second half he really took over and gave us that punch that we needed. That’s what he expect from him. He’s a great player and he steps up in big games and big moments. With Steph being out, he’s gonna have a lot more on his shoulders, and I think he’s ready for it.”
