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The Golden State Warriors will be missing Stephen Curry for a short period of time due to a damaged right knee, according to The Athletic. Curry was ruled out of Golden State’s In-Season Tournament game against the Minnesota Timberwolves on Tuesday night due to knee pain, but he will be evaluated further to determine how much time he will miss.
The Warriors don’t expect him to be out for long, but given Curry’s centrality to everything the Warriors accomplish on offense, missing him for even a single game is a major blow. Curry now ranks third in the NBA in points per game (30.7), and Golden State’s offense collapses when he is not on the court. When Curry is in the lineup, the Warriors have a 116.2 offensive rating, which drops to 111.5 when he comes off the bench, good for 18th in the league.
To make matters worse, no one else on the Warriors has scored more than 20 points in a single game this season. To suggest the Warriors will miss Curry would be an understatement.
Because of Curry’s absence, Chris Paul may be promoted to the starting lineup. Paul has been in every game for Golden State this season, but he is shooting a career low 36.8% from the field. His 8.2 points are also a career low for the veteran guard, but his production was expected to drop as he adjusted to a new role on the Warriors. With Curry sidelined, the Warriors will rely on Paul to fill in as a facilitator and scorer. The same can be said for Klay Thompson, who is also off to a sluggish start in terms of efficiency. Thompson’s 3-point shooting hasn’t been what we’ve come to expect from him throughout his career. Thompson is shooting 34.7% from deep and 42.6% from the field, both of which are career lows.
The Warriors will have to hope that players like Thompson, Draymond Green, and Andrew Wiggins can step up, but more importantly, that Curry does not miss too much time. At 6-5 in a crowded Western Conference, teams can’t afford to go on a big losing streak, because it could be the difference between securing a top-6 spot for the playoffs, or going through the play-in to earn a postseason berth.