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The Golden State Warriors are preparing to be without star guard Stephen Curry for “possibly several games,” according to ESPN’s Kendra Andrews.
The two-time MVP suffered a left ankle sprain in Sunday’s 112-104 loss to the Los Angeles Clippers. He had 18 points and six assists in 27 minutes on the floor.
After the game, head coach Steve Kerr said Curry described his injury as “mild or moderate,” adding the player was due to receive an MRI to determine the full severity.
Even before losing Curry, Kerr deployed a deep rotation to open the 2024-25 season. Fourteen players saw the floor in Golden State’s first game, a 140-104 win over the Portland Trail Blazers, and the coach seems to be settling on a 12-man squad.
“I’ve never played 12 before,” Kerr told reporters after the Blazers victory. “But we’re going to do it. It’s not easy on anybody, but we just have to trust from one night to the next we’ll find the combination that works.”
Now, the Warriors might get a much better sign of how much depth they actually have.
There’s no one player in Golden State — or the NBA for that matter — who can fully replicate what Curry does. The combined effort from multiple players might at least serve as a close facsimile of the 10-time All-Star.
There’s never a good time for Curry to get hurt. However, having him go down now does at least give the Warriors a lot of runway to make up the ground if they lose their next few games without him. And having this opportunity to evaluate and test the roster sans Curry could be invaluable for Kerr and his staff to see whether this 12-man experiment is sustainable.
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