The Draymond Green-Klay Thompson-Steph Curry comeback tour lasted a whole five quarters before a setback.
Wednesday marked the second game back for the trio since 2019, as Draymond made a momentous return Monday night. But in the second quarter of the tense matchup, Curry injured his left foot with about five minutes left before halftime after Boston Celtics guard Marcus Smart rolled up on it diving for a loose ball.
The Warriors' offense was already struggling against Boston's top-rated defense to start the game, but stood little chance once Curry was sidelined. Golden State shot just 37.2 percent from the floor in a flat 110-88 loss that ended a four-game win streak.
"It sucks," Green said of Curry's injury. "But sometimes that's just how the cookie crumbles. We gotta figure it out and deal with it. But, boy, it's rough. It sucks for sure."
Shortly after the game, coach Steve Kerr said Curry was undergoing an MRI and that the Warriors would know more once they got the results.
Curry wasn't the only Warriors player to get dinged up Wednesday night. Rookie wing Moses Moody injured his right shoulder with about eight minutes left in the second quarter after getting tangled up with Celtics guard Grant Williams. He wasn't able to return for the rest of the game, either.
Obviously, the big concern is Curry, who leads the Warriors with his 25.8 points per game. Curry had a history of ankle problems early in his career but has played in 64 of 70 contests this season while staying largely healthy. Steph had three points on 1-of-4 shooting in 14 minutes before leaving.
Moody has become a bigger contributor over the past few weeks and played nine early minutes against Boston’s explosive wing duo of Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown. He knocked down a three and grabbed a rebound before getting hurt.
The Warriors already entered the game a bit shorthanded as Andrew Wiggins missed his second straight game due to illness and Gary Payton II sat out his seventh straight contest with left knee soreness.
As Klay Thompson struggled with his shot, going 1-for-11 from 3-point land and 7-for-24 overall, Jordan Poole took over the third quarter. Poole scored 19 of his 29 points in the period and kept the crowd in the game with a flurry of 3-pointers. If Curry is to miss any time, the Warriors would love to see Poole stay aggressive and productive like was in the second half Wednesday.
"Maybe there will come a time where he has to demonstrate leadership and demonstrate him being the head of the snake sometimes," Juan Toscano-Anderson said. "I think he demonstrated that tonight in the third quarter. I'll challenge him to do that for a full game as opposed to just a couple minutes. I'm always trying to challenge him to be a better player, be a better teammate and bring all the intangibles, things that doesn't show up in the box score. Sky's the limit for Jordan Poole."
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In the third quarter, he went 7-for-8 and 5-of-6 from 3-point land. Poole is now riding a streak of eight straight games where he's dropped at least 20 points, averaging 24.8 in that span. He's still trying to figure out how to describe how it feels when he gets into one of zones.
"Just locked in, to be honest," Poole said. "Draymond and [Kevon Looney] just told me to be aggressive and that's all I really could do with Steph being out, being lead guard."
The Celtics were able to control the tempo of the game and squeeze out defensive possessions, often forcing the Warriors to heave up contested jumpers as the shot clock was expiring. On a night when their shots weren't falling and Steph was kaput, it added up to a convincing win for the Celtics.
"One of the most important things on offense is continuity and consistency," Green said. "We haven't be able to build that for the most part. That is 100 percent a worry. I'm not worried so much that, that is a playoff defense and we struggled tonight. That's fine. Playoffs you make adjustments, you figure stuff out. I don't doubt that we can figure that out."
For now, all eyes will be on Steph and his foot as we await word on the severity of the injury. Golden State has three off days before their next contest Sunday against the San Antonio Spurs.
