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The Golden State Warriors will be without sharpshooter Stephen Curry for at least the next few weeks after the baller suffered a sprained ligament in his left foot last week. And if Sunday’s bout with San Antonio is any indication, that doesn’t bode well for the Bay Area crew.
Despite the fact that Jordan Poole dropped 28 points while filling in for Steph as the team’s floor general, the Warriors fell at home to a sub-.500 Spurs club, 110-108. As a result, the Jazz gained some ground on the Dubs in the Western Conference standings.
With Steph sidelined for what could be the remainder of the regular season, there’s real concern now that Utah could eventually overtake Golden State and move into the No. 3 spot.
Regardless, Curry wasn’t feeling the doom and gloom before the Spurs loss when he had his first post-injury meeting with the media. Rather, he was noticeably upbeat about the situation.
Curry Says His Injury Is Improving
After imaging revealed the ligament sprain, the whole of Dub Nation breathed a collective sigh of relief. When Curry hit the hardwood on Wednesday as a result of Celtics guard Marcus Smart diving into his legs for a loose ball, there was real concern about his ankle and/or knee being seriously damaged.
So, Steph’s actual diagnosis definitely had the feel of a bullet dodged. Then, during his media availability, the two-time NBA MVP painted an optimistic portrait of his recovery.
“It was definitely painful at first. But it’s getting better by the day,” Curry said. “Trying to assess the recovery in real-time, just knowing how much we can push it on a day-to-day. I’m just trying to stay patient and know that it will continue to get better.”
Curry noted that he’s taking it easy at the moment in an effort to give his body its best chance to heal. As he sees it, the early caution will allow him to really dig in once he gets back to work.
“You want to not rush the beginning phases of healing,” he said. “That’s where you can get the most progress so when you put the shoe back on, get back out on the court, you’re not dealing with crazy soreness. You give yourself a better shot. Because this is one that if you push it too soon, it can linger and be a real nuisance.”
If he can go about his recovery the right way, the Warriors star believes he’ll have an opportunity to get back into the lineup ahead of the playoffs.
“I think I’ll get enough time for that,” Curry opined. “But I’m an optimist.”
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Curry Isn’t Angry With Smart
A large and vocal contingent of the Warriors fandom has seen fit to elevate Smart to a new designation as Public Enemy No. 1. However, Curry doesn’t hold any ill will toward the two-time All-Defensive Team pick for his injury.
As he sees it, Smart was just playing with his usual zest.
“He didn’t try to hurt me,” Curry said. “There’s a certain way that he plays that I don’t think many people would have made the play that he did, but I don’t think it was malicious or dirty or trying to hurt me. It was kind of just a tough situation.”
Steph added: “There’s a conversation around should he or shouldn’t he have, but it wasn’t like he looked at me and was like, ‘I’m trying to hurt that dude.’ So, it’s basketball.”
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