The basketball gods are playing a cruel trick on the Warriors.
For the first few months of the season, a crescendo built up until the night of Jan. 9, which will always be remembered by Dub Nation as Klay Day. Following a 941-day hiatus – from two grueling rehabs from ACL and Achilles injuries – beloved Splash Brother Klay Thompson made an epic return to an NBA game in front of the home fans at Chase Center.
While everyone in the building was enamored with every Thompson dribble, and shot – make or miss – during that evening’s pre-game warmup, Draymond Green felt a twinge in his calf. His strength was suddenly sapped. Unbeknownst to him at the time, Green was actually dealing with a disc issue in his lower back that popped up at the absolute worst time. The frenzied crowd was quickly lulled into a stupor once the Warriors immediately fouled after the tip-off.
What’s going on? And why is Draymond limping back to the locker room?
Green made ceremonial seven-second start with Thompson. He wanted to get his name in that official box score. Then he spent the next two months rehabbing before finally returning Monday night. For the first time since 2019, Draymond, Klay and Steph could pass the ball to each other, set screens for one another and chase a fourth championship together.
For all of five quarters and eight minutes, it lasted. In Wednesday night’s 110-88 loss to the Boston Celtics, Curry exited in the second quarter with a left foot injury after Marcus Smart rolled up on him trying to get a loose ball.
Injuries are a part of the game, but the timing of all these injuries strung together is cosmically brutal. If you were in attendance for Monday night’s win against the Washington Wizards, congratulations. You hit the lottery and have seen the only game featuring Steph, Draymond and Klay since 2019.
The regular season ends on April 10, but Curry is out “indefinitely” according to The Athletic’s Shams Charania. According to ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski, the Warriors are optimistic he will be able to return for the playoffs, which begin in about a month.
Even if Curry does come back in time for the first round, the Warriors have been rid of a 12-game period in the regular season for the trio to get reacquainted with one another – but most importantly with their other teammates. There’s a new wave of Warriors talent with 22-year-old Jordan Poole and 19-year-olds Jonathan Kuminga and Moses Moody flying around the floor. Joe Lacob’s vision of melding the Dubs Dynasty core with the next generation will have to be put on pause.
Through 70 games, the Warriors are 47-23 and trail the Memphis Grizzlies by a game for the No. 2 seed in the Western Conference. Instead of trying to catch the Griz, the Warriors are probably more concerned about fending off the Utah Jazz and Dallas Mavericks, who are both lurking 3.5 games behind them.
Following Monday’s win, both Draymond and Klay professed the Warriors would win another title this year. That’s with a healthy Steph. Without his gravity and otherworldly ability to take over games – like his 47-point heater Monday on his birthday – the Warriors are going to have to revamp their entire system. Again. Oftentimes, Steph is the system.
Even on nights when he doesn’t find space to shoot or put up big numbers, Curry’s mere presence opens up the game for his teammates, like he did against the Milwaukee Bucks on Saturday. At least Green is back to facilitate the offense to help supplement Curry’s lost playmaking, but Draymond is still on a minutes restriction, as he played 22 minutes Wednesday night.
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Before knowing the severity of Curry’s injury, Green said he “probably” would start on Sunday against the San Antonio Spurs if Steph was out. Draymond also doesn’t sound completely out of the woods with his lower back injury, so the Warriors will have to be smart about his substitution patterns.
“I feel fine physically,” Green said. “The way we tried to approach this is so I’m not sitting a long stretch. I started the second half when Steph was out then sat a long stretch and coming back it was rough. If anything bothered me, as far as physically, it was that. … Just stiff. It’s hard to get loose after that with what I’ve been dealing with. That’s what we’ve been trying to protect against and it happened tonight unfortunately.”
Third-year guard Jordan Poole is ascending to new heights, as he erupted for 29 points and had no turnovers Wednesday and is riding an eight-game streak of scoring at least 20. He’s also developing into a skilled passer and playmaker.
Poole might be turning into Steph Lite, but there’s only one real McCoy.
Welcome to the third phase of the regular season. First came the Klay-free phase then came the Dray-free phase. Now it’s the Steph-free phase.
"It sucks," Green said Wednesday night of Curry's injury. "But sometimes that's just how the cookie crumbles.”
