Curry left the Warriors' loss in Houston with right abdominal soreness and had an MRI. Here is what is confirmed, what is not, and Friday's game vs. Spurs.
Stephen Curry left the Golden State Warriors' 115-108 loss at the Houston Rockets on Wednesday night, Nov. 11, with what the team calls right abdominal soreness, and he did not return. As of early Thursday, Nov. 12, the results of his MRI have not been made public. Coach Steve Kerr put it bluntly after the game: "Concern is high, but I have no idea the extent of the injury," according to the Associated Press.
What happened to Stephen Curry against the Rockets?
Curry made a 3-pointer about seven and a half minutes into the first quarter, then grabbed at his right side and winced as he backpedaled, the AP reports. He went to Kerr, then to the locker room, walking gingerly. It was his only made shot of the night.
Kerr told reporters that Curry "tweaked something in his abdominal area" and said he had never done it before. According to Kerr, Curry left Toyota Center in the second half for an MRI, and the team had heard nothing back by the time Kerr spoke. California Post reporting on Yahoo adds that Curry stayed in the game for roughly another minute before Kerr could get him out.
What do we know, and what don't we know?
Here is the confirmed list, per the AP, California Post and Pro Football Network:
- The injury is described as right abdominal soreness.
- Curry had an MRI Wednesday night. No result has been announced.
- The Warriors have not given a diagnosis, a return date or a status for Friday's game.
- Curry, 38, was averaging 30.6 points in 28.6 minutes per game, second in the NBA behind Luka Doncic, per California Post.
What is not known is the part everyone is asking about: how long he could be out. No outlet we read gives a timeline from the team, and any number you see before the MRI is read out is a guess. We are not going to add one.
How much does the timing hurt Golden State?
The loss ended an eight-game winning streak that followed an 0-3 start, which California Post says made the Warriors the first team in NBA history to win eight in a row after opening 0-3. The record is now 8-4, sixth in the Western Conference, Pro Football Network reports.
The roster around Curry is already thin. Jimmy Butler and Moses Moody are recovering from knee surgeries and are not expected back until the new year, per California Post. Backup guard Brandon Williams missed the Houston game with a hamstring problem, and second-year guard Will Richard is playing through a torn thumb ligament.
The Warriors still got something to hold on to in Houston. Rookie forward Yaxel Lendeborg scored 25 points with 10 rebounds and Brandin Podziemski added 22, according to Pro Football Network. Draymond Green said after the game that this team is better placed to cope without Curry than last year's was.
What happens next for the Warriors?
The next test comes Friday, Nov. 13, when Golden State visits the second-seeded San Antonio Spurs, who are 10-2, per Pro Football Network. Whether Curry plays depends on the MRI. Expect the first real answer from Kerr or the team's official injury report before that game.
Last season is the other piece of context. California Post notes Curry played only 43 games, the third-fewest of his career, and missed 27 straight at one point with the inflammation in his knee known as runner's knee. The team overhauled his offseason training and put him on a tight minutes limit this year. This injury is to a different part of the body, and Kerr said it is something Curry had not felt before.
Our take
This is the news no Warriors fan wanted on a night when the team had finally found its footing. The 0-3 start looked like a bad omen for a roster built around a 38-year-old star, and the eight straight wins that followed leaned heavily on Curry's scoring. A short absence is survivable with Lendeborg and Podziemski producing. A long one would put the best stretch of their season at risk. Until the MRI is public, the right reading is concern, not panic.
If the Warriors confirm a diagnosis, that is the update that matters, and we will follow it up.
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Picture credit: Photo: Cyrus Saatsaz (CC BY-SA 4.0), file photo
