Curry breaks his hand in brutal loss
Golden State may go allin on youth movement
Chase Center crowd hushed as star guard falls; Suns dominate Warriors, coast to victory.
Warriors guard Stephen Curry, wincing, grabbed his left hand as he writhed on his back.
A hush fell over a sellout Chase Center crowd. Suddenly, it didn’t matter that Golden State was well on its way to a 121110 loss to the Suns. Roughly 30 minutes later, Xrays confirmed the Warriors’ worst fears: Curry, the man asked to make this anything more than a transitional year, had broken his left hand. A CT scan will determine whether he needs surgery.
In the span of a few moments, Curry had collided with Phoenix center Aron Baynes on a drive to the rim and landed on his hand, quelling hopes for a successful season in the process. Just four games in, the Warriors must navigate weeks — perhaps even months —
without the face of their franchise.
That’s a tall task for a team that has stumbled to a 13 start, with all three losses coming in blowout fashion. Without Kevin Durant and Andre Iguodala, and Klay Thompson out until at least February with a torn ACL, the Warriors entered this season clinging to the belief that they could ride Curry’s brilliance to the playoffs. Less than a week later, Golden State faces the prospect of an allin youth movement.
Even before Curry tumbled to the court Wednesday, the Warriors were thin and inexperienced. Now, with Curry joining Thompson, Kevon Looney (hamstring) and Jacob Evans (hip) on the injured list, they have Green, D’Angelo Russell and a cast of unheralded role players.
Perhaps Curry’s injury will be the motivation this group needed. For much of the first four games, the Warriors appeared a step slow as a dynastic fiveyear run gave way to a litany of botched boxouts, missed defensive rotations and illadvised jumpers. But after watching Curry trudge to the locker room with the home team down 8354 early in the third quarter, Golden State ratcheted up the intensity, using a 4527 run to cut its deficit to 11 points with 4:03 left.
By that stage, much of Chase Center had emptied. The question now is whether those same fans will have the patience the coming weeks might require. Even if the Warriors continue to showcase the resiliency they flashed after Curry left Wednesday, they face a sobering reality: They simply aren’t talented enough to compete in a loaded Western Conference.
While Curry sits, Golden State head coach Steve Kerr will wrestle with whether to wave the proverbial white flag, start resting Green and turn the team’s focus toward 202021. Thompson, who has been diligent in his rehab in hopes of returning this spring, might have no need to come back for a lotterybound season.
This is hardly what majority owner Joe Lacob had in mind for Chase Center’s maiden campaign. But if the Warriors have learned anything in the past four months, it’s that injuries can’t be predicted.
After a halfdecade in which little went wrong for Golden State, it is slogging through what Kerr calls the “real NBA,” a world in which the worstcase scenario happens and hopes are dashed.