The Golden State Warriors will be without Stephen Curry for a little while, as the superstar guard has reportedly sustained a sprained right knee, per The Athletic. Curry was ruled out for Golden State's In-Season Tournament game against the Minnesota Timberwolves on Tuesday night with what the team listed as knee soreness, but he is expected to undergo further evaluation to determine how much time he'll miss.
The Warriors don't expect him to miss too much time, but given Curry's importance to everything Golden State does on offense, losing him for even just a game is a significant loss. Curry currently ranks third in the league in points per game (30.7), and Golden State's offense falls completely flat when he's not on the floor. With Curry in the lineup the Warriors have a 116.2 offensive rating, that falls to 111.5 when he's on the bench, which would rank 18th in the league.
To make matters worse, outside of Curry no one else on the Warriors has scored more than 20 points this season in a single game. So to say the Warriors are going to miss Curry is an extreme understatement.
Curry's absence could mean we'll see Chris Paul elevated to the starting lineup. Paul has played in every game this season for Golden State, but he's shooting a career low 36.8% from the field. His 8.2 points is also a career-low for the veteran guard, but his scoring was expected to take a dip as he adjusted to a new role on the Warriors. With Curry out, the Warriors will need Paul to step up in his absence, both as a facilitator and scorer. The same goes for Klay Thompson, who is also out to a slow start from an efficiency standpoint. By career standards for Thompson, his 3-point shooting hasn't been what we're used to from him. Thompson is shooting 34.7% from deep, and his 42.6% from the field is the second-worst of his career.
The Warriors will have to hope that guys like Thompson, Draymond Green and Andrew Wiggins can step up, but more importantly they'll also have to hope that Curry doesn't 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.
