SAN FRANCISCO — Stephen Curry will receive an MRI after suffering a sprained left ankle during the fourth quarter of the Golden State Warriors‘ 112-104 loss to the LA Clippers on Sunday night at Chase Center. Curry first tweaked the same ankle toward the end of the third quarter, but returned to the game after receiving treatment from the training staff on the bench. After the second incident, he was quickly ruled out for the rest of the game.
Warriors head coach Steve Kerr said he spoke with Curry after the loss, and that the All-Star guard described his injury as moderate.
“He’s obviously sprained the ankle many times before, so he doesn’t think it’s too bad.” Kerr said. “But obviously, you know, it’s a concern.”
Kerr said that he did not have any discussions with the training staff after Curry first limped to the bench with just over two minutes left in the third quarter.
He then aggravated the same ankle injury just moments after he returned to the game, and he appeared to be in significant pain as he hopped directly to the locker room.
Curry had career-threatening ankle problems early in his NBA tenure, but has largely been able to avoid major issues in the latter portion of his Hall of Fame career. He entered Sunday night having only averaged 26 minutes over the Warriors’ first two games of the season — historic blowouts over the Portland Trail Blazers and Utah Jazz — while putting up 18.5 points and seven assists per contest. He had 18 points, six assists and four rebounds in 27 minutes against the Clippers before exiting the game.
Needless to say that any hopes for Golden State success this season depend on a healthy and productive Curry, who has made an All-NBA team in 10 of the last 11 years. If he’s forced to miss time, point guard duties will likely be divided between guards Brandin Podziemski and De’Anthony Melton.
Kerr said that Andrew Wiggins, who scored a game-high 29 points on Sunday, would be a prime candidate to pick up the added offensive responsibility in Curry’s potential absence. The Warriors have been playing a 12-man rotation for their first three games, so that depth could come in handy should their offensive fulcrum be ruled out for any length of time.
Golden State will next face the New Orleans Pelicans in a home back-to-back set on Tuesday and Wednesday.
“We’ve got a deep team. We’ve talked about it,” Kerr said. “We’ve got a lot of guys who can play well. We’ll be ready.”
