12:46 pm: The Warriors have confirmed Charania’s report, announcing in a press release that Curry has a Grade 1 hamstring strain and will be reevaluated in one week (Twitter link). That timeline suggests he’ll miss at least the next three games (Thursday, Saturday, and Monday).
11:59 am: Stephen Curry has been diagnosed with a Grade 1 left hamstring strain, according to Shams Charania of ESPN (Twitter link), who reports that the Warriors star will be ruled out for Game 2 of the team’s second-round playoff series vs. Minnesota.
Curry injured his hamstring in the second quarter of Game 1 on Tuesday and was forced to miss the rest of the contest.
As Charania observes, although Curry has a long history of knee and ankle issues, he has never strained a hamstring before. That means this will be the first time he goes through the rehab process for this specific injury, creating some uncertainty about how long his recovery will take.
The good news is that a Grade 1 strain is considered mild. The bad news is that it still typically sidelines a player for at least one week, and Charania confirms (via Twitter) that Golden State is preparing for Curry to miss at least the next seven days.
Based on data compiled by Jeff Stotts of In Street Clothes (Twitter link), the average time lost for a confirmed Grade 1 strain is approximately 10 days. While Curry will certainly attempt to beat that recovery timeline and miss as few games as possible, the Warriors will have to be wary about the risk of re-injury if he comes back too soon.
Game 5 of the series will be played on Wednesday, May 14, which is one week from tonight and eight days after Curry sustained his injury. The two teams would then have three full days off before Game 6 (if necessary) on May 18.
As we detailed earlier today, guards Gary Payton II (16:40) and Pat Spencer (10:33) played big second-half minutes in Game 1 with Curry unavailable. The Warriors also leaned more heavily on sharpshooter Buddy Hield, whose 21:48 of playing time in the second half was a team-high.
Only way the warriors win is if they play great defense first. Without curry you willbe down 30 points in scoring. Soumebody can step up but preventing wolves from being above 100 points a game is the way to win.
Curry was defended well in the rocket series so I think they’ve learned to play better in times Steph has been less than his usual self.
Perhaps they can ride that in this series as well and steal another game? Odds are slim, but maybe it can happen.
It would be sweet if they could hold out Curry till game six. He always comes back a sharp shooter after some time off.
If they can be 2 and 2 when he comes back and make it a 3 game series that would be a sucess. Somebody will need to step up and bring some offense. This is Kuminga big chance to show he is worth a good contract. Moody needs to step up. Hope Spencer gets some minutes because he is instant offense.
4 game sweep! *drops mic
Thats the real problem. This injury could take a few gms. Or it can affect you till the end. Right now we don’t know. They are saying one gm. But we know a hamstring can affect him all series. Besides Steph coming back. Best thing to hope for. Is Kuminga wakes team up. And they rally to make this a series.
They changed it to 3 games he will be out since he will not be evaluated for a week. Their record without Curry during the regular season is above .500 so there is a chance they can d ride it out. Some games they rely too much on Curry bailing them out so its a good learning curve to see what they have with others. They will need 2 playersto step up to cover his scoring.
2025 playoffs will be remembered by who didn’t play ……. I feel for all of you.
I believe this is same leg Steph hurt during season. Not a good sign. Hamstrings are the worst this time of season. I’m not going to count him out yet, not a hater. Sorry but it doesn’t look good for Warriors.
Jimmy stepped up big in gm1. Best 2Way player of his generation. Jimmy just understands winning. Is locked in on whatever it takes. Warriors have to support that. Buddy and others have to step up now. Kuminga has to be counted on. Kerr has to find ways to help him. Warriors aren’t winning anything without Steph. Just like they stole gm1. They can make this a series till Steph is ready.
The halftime show with Shaq was like someone just died. Curry really does run the whole NBA. If he is out, EVERYONE is bummed.
I’m not even a warriors fan but I have watched every playoff game for years just because Steph is on the team. Curry is simply one of the most entertaining and respectable players of our generation. Anyone who doesn’t appreciate him, probably doesn’t appreciate basketball.
@reflect – I agree 100%.
My crystal ball says…in 20 years time when the dust settles on these guys careers and the lebronaganda machine slows down and we all can get some perspective, this will be the average NBA fan’s all-time top 10, in order:
Steph Wemby Wilt MJ Kareem Joker Shaq Bron Kobe Duncan
MJ ahead of Wilt and Kobe ahead of Shaq. Too early to consider the guys still playing, especially Wemby and Joker. Timmy winning titles and being relevant in 3 separate decades – all for the team he started with, no less – likely puts him ahead of Shaq IMO, who played for SIX(?) teams in his career, bailing on a STOUT Orlando Magic roster where he could have REALLY made a name for himself by dethroning (an aging, albeit) Jordan and the Bulls in the late 90s. Instead, Shaq scurried away from that challenge. Plus, I’d rather have Timmy at the line in a crucial moment.
“Too early to consider the guys still playing, especially Wemby and Joker”
“My crystal ball says…in 20 years time when the dust settles on these guys careers”
I know, Davey J. You’ve got the common sense not to rank players currently playing; my reaction was intended more towards the media – and those individuals the media has a heavy influence on – which often likes to inflate the present at the expense of the past.
Curry is in my top 10 all time
@ Davey. Hahaha lmfao
Having Steph as the greatest player in NBA history is lunacy, even coming from Davey J. And no Bird or Magic: also lunacy.
1. Jordan 2. Russel 3. Wilt Chamberlain 4. Kareem 5. Bird 6. Magic 7. Kobe 8. LeBron 9. Shaq 10. Curry 11. Duncan
Yep. Hamstrings need time and they don’t have any to spare. Coming back too early can be disastrous.
Curry’s leg said nope, wolves will choke. Dubs in 5…
Warriors are lucky the Wolves are dysfunctional…
Brilliant! How about this: The Wolves are UNlucky the Warriors are NOT dysfunctional. Just as brilliant
Have you been paying attention to Draymond Green and Jimmy Butler at all?
They are both dysfunctional…
The Warriors were just lucky to have had both Steph and Klay at one point in time…
Dude, make sense please. For once
Take of the blinkers ;)
Tap into the depth. Game 2, something like……
Jimmy 19 pts
Buddy 15
Kuminga 13 (we need more from you, John – 13 is a start)
Podz 12
Dray 10
GP2 9
Moody 8
Post 7
Looney 6
Spencer 5
Santos 3
TJD 2
warriors get 109? Wolves get <109. Sounds good to me
Average of 10 days missed, but the problem is Curry is 37 and is likely to heal more slowly. Plus, it’s not like this is the regular season where he can be truly eased into things. You figure the risk of reaggravation is a little higher in a playoff environment.
But you never know. Hope for the best but plan for the worst, with worst meaning he probably means he misses the rest of the series.
Moody and Podz had better turn it around starting game 2. They both stunk up the joint Monday night. Can’t remember the last time I saw a player play as terrible as Moody did in just a few minutes of playing time. Damn, that was pure ugly and would get some guys waived, sent down, or traded had it been in the regular season. The matador defense by him & Kuminga also isn’t going to inspire a lot of trust in them from Kerr.
That’s not a good thing as the the Warriors need to roll out the deep roster as in Game 1, wear the opponent down and attack in waves.