Steph Curry Has Been Ruled Out Of Game 2 After Failing To Complete His Normal Warmup

The Golden State Warriors will be forced to win a playoff game without the presumptive two-time MVP. Good thing Steve Kerr’s team is playing the wayward Houston Rockets at Oracle Arena, then.

Approximately one hour before tipoff of Game 2 between the Warriors and Rockets, Golden State announced that Steph Curry would miss Monday night’s contest with a sprained right ankle sustained in his team’s win on Saturday.

While Curry went through his ballyhooed pregame warmup, those in attendance noted that he appeared to be moving gingerly. When basketball’s best player cut his workout short and was joined by Warriors front-office executives in the training room, writing was on the wall with respect to his status for Game 2.

During his pregame media availability on Monday evening, Kerr stressed that Golden State would take a cautious approach to Curry’s health. Why? The organization fears playing through pain could result in him suffering the same type of debilitating injury that sidetracked Grant Hill’s path to the Hall of Fame in 2000.

Curry, of course, had surgery to repair torn ligaments in his right ankle following the 2010-2011 season. He played just 26 games the following campaign after a series of minor tweaks led to another procedure less than one year removed from originally going under the knife. The 28 year old has played at least 78 games in each of the four seasons since.

Golden State leads Houston 1-0 in the teams’ best-of-seven first-round series. Though Shaun Livingston will start in Curry’s place and Andre Iguodala will shoulder an additional playmaking load in his absence, reserves like Leandro Barbosa, Brandon Rush, and Ian Clark will be asked to make a bigger impact against the Rockets, too.