What was supposed to be a clean tune-up for the play-in tournament turned tense in a hurry yesterday, as the Golden State Warriors fell to the Sacramento Kings, 124-118, at Golden 1 Center and watched Stephen Curry roll his right ankle less than three minutes into the game.
Curry went down after colliding with Kings guard Devin Carter 2:52 into the first quarter, rolling his right ankle and getting up slowly as Sacramento cashed in on the other end in transition. He walked to the bench with a noticeable hitch, consulted with the team’s vice president of player health and performance, Rick Celebrini, then returned to the floor and played until the 2:11 mark of the period, according to the San Francisco Chronicle.
Curry finished with 11 points in 27 minutes, but the visuals were not exactly reassuring. On the bench he barely moved, and at halftime he walked slowly into the tunnel, a scene that had teammates and Warriors fans alike holding their breath, the Chronicle noted.
While eyes were glued to Curry’s ankle, Brandin Podziemski put together a breakout night with a career-high 30 points. On the other side, Devin Carter paced Sacramento with 29 as the Kings stormed back late. The fourth quarter swung the game, with Sacramento outscoring Golden State 42-29 to pull away in front of an announced crowd of 18,175, according to CBS Sports. The loss drops the Warriors to 37-44 heading into next week’s play-in, while the Kings fall to 22-59.
Play-in Stakes And Curry's Comeback
Curry is only a few games removed from more than two months on the sideline with a right-knee issue, and the Warriors have been tightly managing his minutes as the regular season winds down, as reported by The Washington Post. Given that backdrop, an early-game ankle roll, even one that did not immediately end his night, instantly moved to the top of the worry list for a team that knows its postseason hopes hinge on his availability.
The Warriors have been treating this final stretch as a delicate balance between sharpening their star and not overloading a body that has already logged plenty of miles. Friday’s scare did nothing to ease that tightrope act.
What’s Next
Golden State closes the regular season Sunday at the Intuit Dome against the Clippers and, if the standings hold, is on track to see Los Angeles again in a single-elimination play-in matchup, according to the San Francisco Chronicle.
The Warriors’ medical staff and coaches are expected to evaluate Curry’s ankle over the coming days and share more before Sunday’s tipoff. For now, according to the Chronicle, the team is treating the incident as something to monitor rather than a situation with a firm diagnosis or timetable attached.
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