Warriors sideline Curry for at least a week with hamstring strain, putting rest of series in flux

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — The Golden State Warriors are planning to play without Stephen Curry for at least the next three games of their second-round series against Minnesota, after an MRI exam on Wednesday confirmed a mild strain of the star guard’s left hamstring.

The Warriors said Curry would be sidelined at least a week after the injury on Tuesday night forced him out early in the second quarter of Game 1, which they went on to win 99-88. He had 13 points in 13 minutes to help Golden State build a comfortable lead and take home-court advantage away from the Timberwolves.

“Every year the playoffs are about adapting, whether it’s a game plan or an injury or a lineup, so we just have to adapt,” coach Steve Kerr said. “We’ve done this before, and we’re confident we can do this again.”

Game 2 is in Minneapolis on Thursday, before the series moves west to San Francisco for Game 3 on Saturday and Game 4 on Monday. The earliest return for Curry appears to be Game 5 on May 14, which is conveniently followed by three straight off days before Game 6 on May 18.

Curry has never had a significant hamstring injury in his career, creating yet more mystery around the length of this absence and whether the Warriors can tread water long enough without the all-time leading 3-point shooter in NBA history to get him back near the end of the series. They’d be unwise to bank on that, though.

“We think we have the best defense in the league, and that’s been proven over the last couple of months,” Kerr said.

Curry missed multiple games because of injuries during the 2016 and 2018 playoffs, absences the Warriors adeptly endured on their way to the NBA Finals in both scenarios. They lost to Cleveland in seven games for the 2016 championship, and they swept the Cavaliers in 2018 for a third title in four years. Without Curry during those two postseason runs, they went 9-3.

This Golden State roster hardly stacks up to those predecessors, however, when Curry and Draymond Green were much younger and other standouts like Klay Thompson and Andre Iguodala were integral to their success. By 2018, they had Kevin Durant, too.

For now, the Warriors were feeling good about the all-hands-on-deck effort led by Jimmy Butler, Buddy Hield and Green in Game 1, in which Kerr used 12 different players.

Without Curry, the ball will go through Butler on most possessions, as it did on Tuesday. The six-time All-Star, whose acquisition in a trade with Miami three months ago helped spark and solidify the Warriors on both offense and defense, had 20 points, 11 rebounds and eight assists in Game 1. He scored 20 or more points in four of the five full games he played in the first round against Houston.

“Everybody is live. Everybody who comes into the game is looking to make plays,” Timberwolves guard Mike Conley said. “So you have to be almost even more so locked in on the game and who you’re matched up with and the tendencies. Because they’re not looking for just Curry. Obviously, Buddy is going to be more aggressive, Jimmy is going to be more aggressive, but they’ve got guys who can put the ball in the hole, and they may try to do that collectively as a group.”

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