The Golden State Warriors‘ mood was still upbeat despite losing their superstar Stephen Curry to a right ankle injury late in their 125-122 loss to the Chicago Bulls on Thursday, March 7, at Chase Center.
“It sucks, but everybody deals with injuries,” Draymond Green said, per ESPN. “You’ve just got to do the best you can in dealing with it.”
Curry limped off the court with 3:51 remaining in the fourth quarter after rolling his right ankle.
Steph limped to the locker room after rolling his right ankle 😢
What keeps the Warriors optimistic is that they have the best option available to deal with Curry’s potential loss in their next game or could be more, depending on the severity of the injury.
“We know he is more than capable. He’s Chris Paul,” Green said, per ESPN. “It’s been incredible having C here, but then you have Steph going down — no one is Steph Curry in the NBA. But knowing you are going into the game with a guy who can win you game after game after game, it definitely gives you confidence going in knowing that you are more than capable to win games.”
In 11 starts for the Warriors this season, Paul averaged 12.7 points, 7.5 assists and 3.8 rebounds. But they have lost seven of those games. They are 0-3 this season without Curry.
Fortunately for the Warriors, their next two games are a back-to-back home-and-away on March 9 and 11 against the lottery-bound San Antonio Spurs, who also lost Victor Wembanyama to a right ankle sprain last Tuesday, March 5.
The Spurs, owners of the third-worst record in the league, have lost their last two games and seven of their last 10.
Klay Thompson Wishes Steph Curry a Speedy Recovery
Klay Thompson, who fired 25 points off the bench, hopes Curry can return sooner if he misses time due to the ankle injury.
“I know we’re going to miss him if he does need time off,” Thompson told reporters after the loss. “We’ve been in this position before where he has had time off, and we just got to do it collectively. I know he’ll be ready to go when he does come back, whenever that is. We just wish him a speedy recovery.”
Thompson tried to carry the Warriors on his back without Curry down the stretch as his 3-pointer with 40 seconds left gave them a 119-118 lead. But DeMar DeRozan answered with a 3-point play while Warriors rookie Brandin Podziemski missed a reverse layup which sealed their loss.
If Paul starts, Thompson would remain in his Sixth Man role.
Thompson averaged 18.8 points on 43.4% 3-point shooting in eight games off the bench.
The Andrew Wiggins Watch
Andrew Wiggins started anew in his second game back from a four-game absence due to personal reasons but remained on a minute restriction.
The Warriors former All-Star forward, however, shot the ball much better this time around and was a plus-7 in 16 minutes of play.
Wiggins finished with eight points on 3 of 6 shooting after only hitting 1 of 5 in his first game back the previous night. He added two assists, one rebound and one steal.
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Draymond Green Dishes on Steph Curry Replacement in Warriors Starting Lineup