The Warriors just announced that Stephen Curry will miss at least two weeks with a Grade 1 MCL sprain in his right knee. That means Curry will, at a minimum, sit out for the end of the first round and the beginning of the second round.
How much should Warriors fans panic about Stephen Curry’s injury?
Just how much should Warriors and NBA fans worry about this? Here are two different perspectives.
(Editor’s Note: This was written before Chris Paul broke his hand, which of course bolsters the second perspective).
It’s time to panic
By Mike Prada
The good news about Monday’s announcement is that Stephen Curry’s season isn’t over, but that doesn’t provide much consolation to Warriors fans. The only thing that could stop the winningest team of all time from claiming a title was an injury to Stephen Curry. Lo and behold, here we are.
Without Curry, the Warriors are no longer a juggernaut. They're still very good because they have amazing character and a great defense, but their most powerful weapon is deactivated without the one player teams need to defend all over the court. That's a problem when the angry Clippers or feisty Blazers wait in the second round, and it'll be a problem if and when Curry returns to the court at less than 100 percent after his two-week timetable ends.
The success of the Warriors’ historic offense stems from two factors: Curry’s ability to shoot from well beyond the three-point line and the opposing defense’s reaction to Curry’s ability to shoot from well beyond the three-point line. Without those two factors, the Warriors’ offense is fairly ordinary. It’s good, but nothing special.
His knee injury certainly threatens that first key. Even if Curry returns midway through the second round, he probably won't be fully healthy. Will he still be as elusive weaving through defenders? Can he still get enough lift on his shots? Or, will the Warriors get the Curry who shot 39 percent from the field and 32 percent from three-point range in the three games after re-injuring his ankle against the Spurs in the 2013 playoffs?
Meanwhile, that second key to the Warriors’ offensive success is certainly absent for at least two weeks and may not be as powerful if Curry is less than himself down the road. The Warriors set offensive records this season because Curry’s impact was exponential. They benefited from having an elite marksman from distances nobody usually guards, then benefited again because there’s more space to cut, drive and move when other teams push up to stop Curry. His mere presence gave them significantly more court space to operate than any other team.
To put it another way, Curry is the only Warrior who consistently draws double teams, except he does so from 30 feet away instead of three. He inverts traditional defenses all by himself, and there's nobody on any team -- much less the Warriors -- who can fill that role. They creatively leverage the threat of Curry's shooting, whether through the unstoppable pick-and-roll with Draymond Green or by using Curry as the league's most dangerous screen-screener.
Take that threat away, and suddenly the Warriors are forced to score like a normal team. Green is an amazing player, but Curry makes life easier for him by doing the hard work of drawing multiple defenders to him. The same goes for Klay Thompson, Harrison Barnes and the rest of the roster. They are all great at making teams pay for paying attention to Curry, but they aren't nearly as good at drawing that attention from defenders in the first place. Even Thompson, a deadly shooter in his own right, doesn't have the ball-handling skills to perform a reasonable facsimile of Steph's tractor beam act.
That leaves the Warriors with useful parts and a great defense, but no key to the ignition. They called on their institutional memory to blow out a broken Rockets team on Sunday, but duplicating that effort against bigger threats will be difficult. The Warriors won almost all their games against elite teams this year, but several of those margins were close and Curry himself was usually the difference. Who fills that void when they're in another tight spot against the Clippers, Spurs or Thunder? (We'll add the Blazers to that list if they can really make L.A. sweat in this round.)
This is the blessing and curse of the Warriors’ roster. The pieces add up to much more than the sum of their parts around Curry, but without him, they are just pieces. It will take more than just pieces to beat the NBA’s best. Better hope Curry heals quickly.
Chill. It’s OK
By Zito Madu
I think that the Warriors will be fine without Stephen Curry.
It’s a mighty thing to diminish the impact of a severe injury to the best basketball player on Earth, but it’s also unfair to suggest the Warriors are listless without him. Their chance at winning the title goes from assured to flimsy with him off the court because now it’s easier to put together a viable game plan to stop them, but they still have many qualities that keep them a great team.
For one, their defense is still dominant. It's not a system that depends on Curry, and no matter who replaces him in the starting lineup (likely Shaun Livingston), they should still maintain the same type of energy and aggressiveness without Steph. Curry led the league in steals, but he's far from the best defensive player on the team. As they lean more on that defense in his absence, they may even be better on that end without him.
But I understand that it’s not the biggest fear here. That’s the offense and playmaking.
When Curry injured his shin and sat out several games earlier this season, the Warriors survived. They won those games and kept their historic season on pace because everyone else stepped up to the challenge.
The victory against the Rockets at the end of December is a great example. It was after the Warriors were beaten down by Dallas in a game that saw Curry, Festus Ezeli, Harrison Barnes and Leandro Barbosa sidelined. Klay Thompson was the go-to guy in that game, and he reacted by pouring in 38 points. He's shown several times that once he gets hot, he can shoot from anywhere on the floor, just like Curry himself.
As a complement to Thompson, Draymond Green ran the show. In that game, he finished with 10 points, 11 rebounds and a career-high 16 assists, all while playing his trademark irksome defense. Livingston started in Curry's place and notched 13 points and seven assists. Andre Iguodala added 20 points of his own off the bench.
This will not be the first time players have been forced to step up in Curry’s absence. More often than not, they rise to the challenge in the same fashion, just as they did against the Rockets on Sunday.
The Warriors will face either the Clippers or the Blazers next, and both are certainly better teams than Houston. That’s true. But their past history of stepping up in Curry’s absence speaks to the ability of their team.
Curry’s presence on the court is a threat that changes the way the entire game is played, and they are at their rampaging best with him. Without him, they are merely a team of highly talented individuals with great team chemistry, playing in a fluid system drawn up by an innovative coach that enhances their strengths. They also now have an emotional drive to win in Curry’s honor.
And, of course, he’ll be back soon! So, we’ll see those Warriors return to their all-powerful form before their biggest tests arrive.
Still, I’d wager that this team will surprise many with how well they play in Curry’s absence.
See More:
