alarm bells are ringing Golden State Warriors. In a season that was already worrying enough due to the erratic performance of the defending champions, they will now have to face a long and indefinite period without their main star: Stephen Curry.
The point guard suffered an injury on Saturday, Feb. 4 against the Mavs that resulted in a partial tear of the superior tibial ligaments and medial membrane of his left knee. An absence that, in the words of Steve Kerr, “It’s not an injury that’s going to keep him out for the rest of the season. He’ll be back sooner rather than later.” In fact, NBC’s Monte Poole reported that I would lose 5 games.
The positive part for Golden State’s interests is that the All-Star weekend is very little left, so after the last duel, there will be 9 days without games where the point guard will work to recover physically.
However, losing someone of Curry’s caliber will have a noticeable effect, It’s time to analyze how warriors without its star
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How does Stephen Curry’s injury affect the Warriors?
The balance of the Golden State Warriors without Stephen Curry this season is 9 wins and 9 losses. A record to be entered into the box. In the first 8 engagements the Californians faced without the star, they dropped 6 of them with 4 in a row. They later reached 5 wins without Steph until both numbers were equal in the overall context. What does this mean? That Steve Kerr’s men are an absolutely unpredictable team when Curry isn’t there.
The lack of a star who solves as many problems as Steph makes this her thermometer. The point guard is the leading scorer, the player with the most offensive usage and the second-most assist producer, almost tied with Draymond Green. Replacing him is not an easy task, especially in the current state of the team. More when the contrast between when it plays and when it doesn’t is so huge:
- When Curry is on the court: +5.05 from net score
- When Curry is not on the court: -6.15 from net score
The way the Warriors messed up other times this season where Curry was out was by bringing the Jordan Poole in the starting five. This simple and obvious decision causes an automatic mismatch in spins. And it’s that Golden State has a depth problem on its second unit, such that there’s no one else on the bank to take up Poole’s minutes. All this responsibility rests Donte DiVincenzo and Jonathan Kumingawhich are far from being able to have a noticeable impact.
What will make the difference between this absence of Steph and the others of this course is that now Andrew Wiggins yes it will be available. The Canadian has only played in 33 games due to physical ankle issues, dropping in and out of the rotation multiple times. Wiggins adds another package to Kerr’s rotation and along with Thompson can help Bahia stay on the table.
However, the calendar ahead of Golden State does not inspire optimism. Not so much because of the entity of their opponents but because of the moment they are having. In the coming weeks they have to deal with at Thunder, Blazers, Lakers (doubleheader), Clippers (both games), Rockets and Wolves. Of those, only Houston’s visit to the Chase Center will be the most affordable compromise. The rest are in an all-out battle to get into or avoid Play-In in the Western Conference and after passing the trade deadline more than one will have been enhanced.
This 5 possible games for Curry is a pretty optimistic view of an injury that could last longer. The problem is that right now Golden State is in 8th place (27-26) with just 2.5 games away from 13th place. One mistake and the entire season could be in jeopardy.
The views expressed here do not necessarily represent those of the NBA or its organizations.
