The Golden State WarriorsThe atmosphere was still positive despite the loss of their star player Stephen Curry to a right ankle injury during their 125-122 defeat to the Chicago Bulls on Thursday, March 7, at Chase Center.
“It's unfortunate, but everyone faces injuries,” Draymond Green commented, as reported by ESPN. “You just have to handle it as best as you can.”
Curry left the court limping with 3:51 left in the fourth quarter after twisting his right ankle.
What keeps the Warriors optimistic is that they have the best option available to deal with Curry’s potential absence in their next game or beyond, depending on the severity of the injury.
“We know he is more than capable. He's Chris Paul,” Green stated to ESPN. “It's been amazing having C here, but then you have Steph going down — no one is Steph Curry in the NBA. But knowing you are going into the game with a guy who can win you game after game after game, it definitely gives you confidence going in knowing that you are more than capable to win games.”
In 11 starts for the Warriors this season, Paul averaged 12.7 points, 7.5 assists and 3.8 rebounds. But they have lost seven of those games. They are 0-3 this season without Curry.
Fortunately for the Warriors, their next two games are a back-to-back home-and-away on March 9 and 11 against the lottery-bound San Antonio Spurs, who also lost Victor Wembanyama to a right ankle sprain last Tuesday, March 5.
The Spurs, owners of the third-worst record in the league, have lost their last two games and seven of their last 10.
Klay Thompson Wishes Steph Curry a Speedy Recovery
Klay Thompson, who scored 25 points off the bench, hopes Curry can return sooner if he misses time due to the ankle injury.
“I know we’re going to miss him if he does need time off,” Thompson told reporters after the loss. “We’ve been in this position before where he has had time off, and we just got to do it collectively. I know he’ll be ready to go when he does come back, whenever that is. We just wish him a speedy recovery.”
Thompson tried to carry the Warriors on his back without Curry down the stretch as his 3-pointer with 40 seconds left gave them a 119-118 lead. But DeMar DeRozan answered with a 3-point play while Warriors rookie Brandin Podziemski missed a reverse layup which sealed their loss.
If Paul starts, Thompson would remain in his Sixth Man role.
Thompson averaged 18.8 points on 43.4% 3-point shooting in eight games off the bench.
The Andrew Wiggins Watch
Andrew Wiggins started anew in his second game back from a four-game absence due to personal reasons but remained on a minute restriction.
The Warriors former All-Star forward, however, shot the ball much better this time around and was a plus-7 in 16 minutes of play.
Wiggins finished with eight points on 3 of 6 shooting after only hitting 1 of 5 in his first game back the previous night. He added two assists, one rebound and one steal.
