Stephen Curry left in the third quarter of the Warriors’ win over the Mavericks on Sunday night after suffering an apparent knee injury in a collision with McKinley Wright IV while defending a drive.
Wright’s knee hit the side of Curry’s knee, and the All-Star starter limped off the floor and to the locker room. An X-ray at the arena came back negative, but Sunday brought an MRI to determine the severity of the injury and provide a timetable for how long Curry figures to be out. Unfortunately for those hoping it would just be a brief absence, word broke from Shams Charania on Sunday afternoon that Curry’s leg injury would keep him out for “multiple weeks,” while a firm diagnosis on the specifics of the injury Curry is dealing with were not part of the report.
Golden State’s Stephen Curry is expected to miss multiple weeks with a left leg injury, sources tell @TheAthletic @Stadium.
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) February 5, 2023
This would certainly seem to suggest Curry will be out through the All-Star break, which would mean he will miss the next five games — against the Thunder, Blazers, Lakers, Wizards, and Clippers — with a return after All-Star giving him just under three weeks from the injury to recover before the Warriors tip-off their second half against the Lakers. At 27-26, the Warriors are already perilously close to being on the outside of the play-in picture, as they sit in seventh currently but are just one game ahead of Portland in 11th. This immediate stretch against OKC, Portland, and L.A., three teams they’re ahead of right now, will be particularly important to navigate with Curry out.
From a league-wide perspective, Curry’s absence for multiple weeks also means Adam Silver will have to select a replacement for Curry from the list of West snubs, with Anthony Edwards and De’Aaron Fox figuring to be the two most likely selections — with the possibility of both making it as Zion Williamson’s All-Star status remains in question.
