Getty Stephen Curry #30 of the Golden State Warriors limps off the court in the fourth quarter against the Chicago Bulls.
Klay Thompson wished his “Splash Brother” Stephen Curry a speedy recovery after an ankle injury doomed the Golden State Warriors in their heartbreaking 125-122 loss to the visiting Chicago Bulls on Thursday, March 7, at Chase Center.
“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.”
Curry left the Warriors clinging to a 112-110 lead with 3:51 remaining in the fourth quarter when he rolled his right ankle.
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.
It turned out to be their last.
DeMar DeRozan put the Bulls ahead with a 3-point play. Then Warriors rookie Brandin Podziemski‘s reverse layup fell short on the other end, allowing the Bulls to escape with the victory.
Vintage Klay Thompson Needed
Warriors coach Steve Kerr had no update on Curry’s injury after the game.
“I don’t know yet,” Kerr told reporters. “He’s got his foot in a bucket of ice right now. I haven’t talked to the training staff yet.”
If Curry misses time, they will have to rely on Thompson, who scored 25 points off the bench, to be consistent to fill the scoring void.
“I still think I’m me whether I start or come off the bench,” Thompson told reporters. “The most important part of playing is just being yourself. You don’t want to pigeonhole yourself into playing a certain role and it’s been an easy transition for me and I look forward to continuing to try and help this team win as many games as possible.”
Thompson normed 18.8 points on 43.4% shooting from deep in eight games off the bench this season. In contrast, Thompson averaged 16.7 points on 36.9% 3-point shooting as a starter.
Thompson has to summon his vintage form for their stretch run as the playoff race gets tighter to the finish line.
The loss dropped the Warriors (33-29) in a virtual tie with the Los Angeles Lakers (34-30), whose superstar LeBron James is also dealing with ankle issues of his own, for 9th place in the Western Conference.
Both teams are 3.5 games outside of the top six teams, who will get outright playoff berths.
Weary Warriors
The Warriors looked tired on the second night of a back-to-back homestand after their 125-90 rout of the Milwaukee Bucks the previous night.
Curry epitomized the Warriors’ slow start, missing six of his first seven attempts. He only had five points at the half as they trailed the Bulls 63-59. He wound up shooting 5 of 18 from the floor before he limped out with the ankle injury.
Kerr felt they were short of energy.
“It just didn’t feel like we were pressuring the ball, rotating quickly,” Kerr lamented. “It just felt like we never impacted them and they kind of got into their stuff.”
But he added he had no problem with their effort and execution.
“We just got outplayed,” Kerr said.