OAKLAND, Calif. — Stephen Curry will miss at least three weeks with a sprained left knee, meaning the Golden State Warriors will be without their do-everything point guard and second-leading scorer for the rest of the regular season. Curry could be back at the start of the playoffs next month if all goes well in rehabbing his latest injury.
An MRI on Saturday showed a Grade 2 sprain of his medial collateral ligament and the team said Curry would be re-evaluated in three weeks — that would be April 14 and a possible Game 1 of the playoffs for Golden State.
The two-time MVP had returned from a six-game absence after his latest right ankle injury Friday night only to injure his left knee. In the third quarter of a victory against Atlanta, center JaVale McGee fell into him. Curry hobbled off the court grimacing, sat on the bench and put his head down.
“That’s the star player. I feel very bad that I was a part of that,” McGee told reporters after the game.
The defending champions were already without their three other All-Stars: Kevin Durant, Draymond Green and Klay Thompson. Green is likely to be back from a bruised pelvis for Sunday night’s home game against Utah. Durant is still recovering from a broken rib and Thompson has a fractured right thumb.
“Hopefully, we will have five guys that can suit up by the playoffs,” coach Steve Kerr said.
Curry scored 29 points before his knee injury, which Kerr called “kind of a strange, cruel twist of fate.”
“Steph, he’s battled it,” said guard Quinn Cook, who has played regularly in Curry’s place. “He always stays positive, stays in tune to what’s going on. Obviously, we need him to be on the floor for us to get where we want to go.
“Guys have to keep having his back. These little knick-knack injuries, it’s frustrating, obviously, for him. I know he’s worried about the common goal at the end of the season. I know he’ll be fine.”
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