Late Friday night in Oakland, no one seemed quite sure what to make of Stephen Curry's ankle injury, sustained in the fourth quarter of the Warriors' 192-92 loss to the Spurs in Game 3 of the Western Conference Semifinals. Curry's had ankle injuries keep him out for significant playing time before, even requiring surgery in early 2012, but those injuries were to his right ankle, and this one was clearly to his left.
Stephen Curry injury: Warriors star’s left ankle sprain leaves status for Game 4 in doubt
Stephen Curry’s had ankle trouble before. Will a sprained left ankle keep him out of a must-win Game 4?
Here’s a .GIF of the play Curry was injured on:
Warriors coach Mark Jackson confirmed that the injury is a sprain in his post-game press conference, but wouldn’t speculate on Curry’s return, telling reporters that Curry was “icing it (and) getting treatment,” and that “we’ll see where he’s at” when it came to his availability for Sunday’s Game 4.
Reporters offered different takes on Curry’s status after the game:
Steph Curry just walked by and he's not limping noticeably at all.
— Poor Man's Commish (@poormanscommish) May 11, 2013
Curry just walked towards the arena exit. Major limp.
— Ethan Strauss (@SherwoodStrauss) May 11, 2013
Again, when Steph Curry walked by me, it was pretty quick, I looked down at his feet, didn't see a noticeable limp. Maybe a bad angle?
— Poor Man's Commish (@poormanscommish) May 11, 2013
Curry remained in Game 3 after the injury occured with just under five minutes left; Jackson told reporters that Curry “said he could make it.” But the point guard was ineffective for much of the second half, even prior to his injury, failing to make a shot in the last 18 minutes of the game.
If Curry can't go in Game 4, the Warriors will likely turn to Jarrett Jack to run the point and provide some of the scoring, but neither Jack nor an injured Curry is likely to approximate what the healthy Curry has done in these playoffs: he was scoring 26.5 points and dishing out 8.9 assists per game in his eight appearances prior to Game 3, and even an off night (16 points and eight assists) didn't do much to those averages, dropping them to 25.3 and 8.8, respectively.
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